WASHINGTON (Reuters): US President Joe Biden spoke on Friday with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto to congratulate him on his election victory, White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Biden pledged to expand cooperation with Indonesia under the US-Indonesia comprehensive partnership in the Indo-Pacific economic framework, he said.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Java, Indonesia’s most-populated island, with the tremors felt as far away as the capital Jakarta on Friday evening.
The quake hit off the coast of Tuban, East Java, about 600 kilometers away from Jakarta, according to the meteorological and geophysics agency in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The province is a key industrial area that’s home to plants including PT Freeport Indonesia’s copper smelter.
The tremor damaged buildings near the area, according to local media reports. The agency known as BMKG said there was no tsunami risk.
Earthquakes are a common occurrence in Indonesia, which lies across the Pacific Ocean’s "ring of fire” zone of active volcanoes and tectonic faults.
