5.8-magnitude earthquake jolts Indonesia's Java

The quake’s epicentre was 22km from the city of Sukabumi, at a depth of 104km. - SCREENGRAB FROM USGS

JAKARTA (AFP): A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's main island of Java on Thursday (Dec 8), the United States Geological Survey said, less than a month after another quake in the same province killed more than 300 people.

The quake struck at 07:50am local time (0050 GMT) around 15km from the town of Cianjur, the USGS said.

It said there was a low likelihood of casualties or damage following the quake, which struck at a depth of 123km (76 miles).

Last month, a shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Cianjur, triggering landslides and collapsing buildings.

That tremor was the deadliest in the archipelago nation since a 2018 quake and resulting tsunami killed more than 4,000 people on the island of Sulawesi.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.