Fourth Quake in 2 Days Wracks Indonesia

Nine dead in latest burst of seismic activity under Indian Ocean

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 13, 2007 2:47 PM CDT

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Fourth Quake in 2 Days Wracks Indonesia — Residents clear up the ruins of a house which was destroyed by earthquake in Muara Maras, Bengkulu, Sumatra island, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. A second powerful earthquake in as many days jolted Southeast Asia and triggered regional tsunami warning Thursday causing residents to flee inland.... (Associated Press)

The fourth in a string of violent earthquakes and more than 60 lower-level tremors rattled Indonesia late today, at a magnitude of 6.2. With its epicenter two miles deep in the Indian Ocean, 65 miles west-northwest of Bengkulu, the government issued, then canceled, another tsunami warning. Nine have died in two days of seismic activity, CNN reports.

Shaking homes up to 385 miles away in Jakarta, the quake was the smallest of the four, which began yesterday and measured 8.4, 7.8, and 7.1, respectively. Government officials maintain "victims are not as dire as we thought," attributing the low death toll to heightened earthquake awareness. Indonesia has been struck by 15 deadly earthquakes since 2004. (More Indonesia stories.)

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