Bali’s Bangli regency was hit by a small earthquake on Thursday morning.
The earthquake was recorded as a 2.8 on the Richter Scale and wasn’t assessed as having any tsunami potential.
Based on data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the baby quake occurred at 11:43 am with a depth of two kilometers.
The epicenter was identified as being 22 kilometers northwest of Bangli.
Reports have not surfaced of any victims or damage.
Local residents have been urged to remain calm.
Even though Bali sits on the ring of fire, earthquakes are not exceedingly common for the island.
While today’s earthquake is nothing to lose sleep over, the island has experienced some shaking from a number of quakes in the past couple months, with a 4.4 in April, a 6.4 on March 22, a 5.4 on March 17, and in February, two 5.2 quakes and a 4.9.
The recent quakes are a reminder that something bigger may be quietly lurking under the surface because of Bali and south Java’s positioning over a subducting slab. This “sleeping tectonic dragon” could one day manifest in the form of one or several large earthquakes and tsunamis, writes Earth Observatory of Singapore’s Kerry Sieh.
Although this theory remains unproven at the moment, it is something to think about, cautions Sieh.
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