Two-metre tsunami damages homes on Java

A two-metre tsunami has damaged homes and an hotel on Java island, witnesses have told a local radio station.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 triggered a tsunami warning earlier today on Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands and Australia’s Christmas and Cocos islands.

The earthquake, which hit at 3.24pm (9.42am Irish time) caused tall buildings to sway in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and at least one other city on Java Island for about two minutes.

“There is a possibility of a destructive local tsunami in the Indian Ocean,” Japan’s Meteorological Agency said in a statement, adding that if triggered, waves should start reaching shores in the region within the hour.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a similar bulletin.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in Indonesia.

The Japanese and Pacific tsunami warning centres did not give the depth of the quake, but local media reports quoting Indonesian officials said it was more than 18 miles below the ocean floor.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A massive 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed at least 216,000 people – nearly half of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

On May 27, a magnitude-5.9 earthquake devastated a large swath of Java Island, killing more than 5,800 people.