Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Indonesia: USGS

A strong 7.0-magnitude earthquake was recorded in the sea north of the main Indonesian island of Java, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Friday, with no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The quake struck at 4:55 pm local time (0955 GMT), the USGS said, with Indonesia’s geological agency ruling out a tsunami after the epicenter was detected at a depth of 594 kilometers (370 miles).

Indonesia experiences frequent quakes due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Friday’s quake hit roughly 160 kilometers northwest of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-most populous city that is home to more than two million people.

The tremor was felt over a large part of Java and as far away as the islands of Bali and Lombok.

“In Surabaya, it was barely felt, but some lamps were swaying,” said an AFP reporter who felt the tremor “for a while”.

Klistjart Tarissa, 25, a resident of Bandung in West Java, told AFP she “was a bit panicked because I was (on the) second floor and I didn’t know whether the quake’s intensity was getting bigger or smaller”.

In Yogyakarta, a teacher who had been hosting an online lecture said the quake interrupted his class.

“I thought the wind was blowing, causing my keys to rattle, but it lasted for a while,” said 33-year-old Simon Arsa Manggala.

“After that, I felt a tremor which was quite strong and long.”

A 5.5-magnitude aftershock was recorded by Indonesia’s geological agency in the same area about an hour after the main tremor.

Abdul Muhari, spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency, said the earthquake was not expected to cause much damage because of its great depth.

A 5.6-magnitude quake hit West Java province, on the same island, in November, killing 602 people.

Most of the victims of that earthquake were killed when buildings collapsed or in landslides triggered by the tremor.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra island in Indonesia on April 3, shaking homes but causing no casualties or damage.

© 2023 AFP

Related articles

Pete Hegseth didn’t sport emo look in senior yearbook photo

In reality, the emo aesthetic was neither a phase nor a lifestyle for Hegseth.

Epstein’s ‘friendship’ with Trump at center of ‘major security liability’: leading Dem



Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) issued a fierce demand Monday to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding President Donald Trump’s “long-term friendship” with Jeffrey Epstein, arguing it may have not only influenced the Trump administration’s policies, but created a “major national security liability.”

Raskin's demand came in the form of a letter to Blanche's office requesting records on Epstein's foreign ties, details of which have emerged through the Justice Department's release of millions of Epstein-related files that started last year. Specifically, Raskin’s request centered around suspicions that Epstein acted as a “foreign agent” for multiple countries, and on some occasions, did so “in order to influence policies of the first Trump administration.”

“Given the information Mr. Epstein possessed about President Trump and his easy access to high-level officials in the President’s inner circle, Mr. Epstein’s relationships with foreign leaders, including adversaries, posed a major national security liability,” Raskin’s letter reads.

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, released the letter publicly on Tuesday, in which he cited evidence suggesting that Epstein worked on behalf of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and Israel, a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Raskin went on to detail several examples as to how Epstein’s friendship with Trump may have created a legitimate “security risk” to the United States, including one involving a “Russian oligarch.”

“Mr. Epstein privately alleged the President was involved in an international money laundering scheme with a Russian oligarch that centered around real estate in Florida. In another missive, Mr. Epstein connects the dots between this scheme and the sale of expensive artwork to [Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman],” Raskin’s letter reads.

“While Mr. Epstein was prone to exaggeration and self-aggrandizement, these emails suggest President Trump’s foreign business interests may have had a tangible effect on foreign policy and that Mr. Epstein knew about and was willing to weaponize such lurking and explosive conflicts of interest.”

Raskin demanded that Blanche's office turn over “all records” related to Epstein and 19 different countries, as well as all records relating to entities associated with Epstein that “may have been set up to avoid their foreign contacts triggering personal FARA registration requirements.”

In the letter, Raskin noted that Epstein, alongside former Trump official Steve Bannon, appeared to employ “strategies for skirting FARA’s requirements,” including the use of non-profit entities and other non-governmental organizations to structure “international arrangements,” and to “use go-betweens so he could remain ‘surgically pure.’”

GAME RECAP: Buffalo Bisons at Syracuse Mets 7/17/26

Davis Schneider came up clutch with a...

Trump Promises to Bomb Facility Where the WSJ Reports Iran Moved Its Centrifuges

President Donald Trump vowed to attack the site where Iran reportedly moved materials that could restore the country's nuclear program.

The post Trump Promises to Bomb Facility Where the WSJ Reports Iran Moved Its Centrifuges first appeared on Mediaite.