Access

Published online 30 May 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060529-4

News

Another tragedy strikes Indonesia

On 27 May an earthquake struck Java, Indonesia, about 25 kilometres south-southwest of the city of Yogyakarta, claiming more than 5,000 lives. News@nature.com takes a look at the situation.

How big was the quake?

The US Geological Survey has characterized this as a magnitude 6.3 event. That's strong, but not huge; in fact, earthquakes of this size typically happen somewhere in the world every two or three days.

Comments

Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.