6.0-magnitude quake rocks Indonesia's Java

A shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali early Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, causing panicked people to flee their homes.

The head of Indonesia's geophysics agency said there had been no reports of casualties or damage, although information was still being gathered in East Java province.

"The quake didn't trigger any tsunami for sure," Dwikorita Karnawati told AFP.

The strong quake's epicentre was in the Bali Sea around 40 kilometres (25 miles) off the eastern end of Java island, according to the USGS, and was felt in Denpasar on the holiday island of Bali.

 

"Wow, that was really strong and it lasted a long time," said a woman named Davy who took refuge in the parking lot of a Bali hotel, several kilometres from where the IMF and World Bank are holding their annual meetings this week.

Some guests at the hotel in Nusa Dua, south of Bali's main international airport, briefly fled outside after the strong tremor shook the building.

"The quake was very big. I immediately woke up and took my little kids out of the house," Ni Komang Sudiani told AFP.

"All my neighbours were also running," said the mother of two.

The quake was also felt in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, which is about 200 km from Situbondo, the nearest town to the quake epicentre.

"I felt it for about 10 seconds. People were sleeping but got woken up by it," Tonny Akbar Mahendro told AFP.

The tremor comes after a 7.5-magnitude and subsequent tsunami struck off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi -- around 1,000 km northeast of Situbondo -- last month, killing more than 2,000 people.

A string of earthquakes in Lombok in eastern Indonesia killed more than 550 people over the summer.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.