Tremors felt in Singapore after 6.0-magnitude earthquake

SINGAPORE: Tremors felt in several parts of Singapore on Friday (Feb 25) were caused by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Northern Sumatra, said the National Environmental Agency (NEA) in response to CNA's queries.

At about 9.40am, people reported feeling tremors from several locations islandwide, including Punggol, Simei, Redhill, Queensway, Ang Mo Kio and Kallang.

CNA readers also said they felt tremors in Bugis, River Valley and Choa Chu Kang.

A CNA reader, who only wanted to be known as Alvin, said he was in a building at the Marina Bay Financial Centre when the tremors began.

"I've had vertigo before so I thought I was having one, but then my colleague stopped typing and we looked at each other, and confirmed she also felt the building was shaking," he said, adding that the building management had received calls from other tenants reporting the incident.

"I was sitting in my classroom and felt swaying. I thought it was a sudden dizzy spell, but after three to four seconds it was gone," said Nurul Hudaa Mohamed Daud, who was in the Parkway Parade office building at the time. 

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck in Sumatra, Indonesia at about 8.39am local time (9.39am Singapore time).

Indonesia's geophysics agency BMKG said in a message on Twitter that the earthquake's epicentre was on land and did not issue a tsunami warning.

The quake, which was on land at a depth of 10km, was also felt in Malaysia, and strongly in the nearby cities of Padang in West Sumatra province and in Pekanbaru in Riau Province, witnesses said.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency could not immediately be reached for comment about the damage.

Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, straddling the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meets.

Last month, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Java island, prompting some residents in the capital Jakarta to flee from buildings in panic.

Cheng, I. (2022, February 25). Tremors felt in Singapore after 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Northern Sumatra: NEA. CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/northern-sumatra-sumatra-earthquake-tremors-felt-singapore-2518871