Indonesia’s disaster agency, on Saturday, said that at least six have been killed after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s main Java island.

“The agency has recorded six dead and one person who sustained serious injuries,” said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Raditya Jati, adding that several villages in East Java had been evacuated.

The earthquake hit offshore about 45 kilometres southwest of Malang city in East Java.

The quake struck at a relatively deep 82 kilometres (50 miles) — shallower quakes tend to do more damage than deep ones.

“It was pretty strong and went for a long time,” Malang resident Ida Magfiroh told AFP.

“Everything was swaying.”

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

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On December 26, 2004, a devastating 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.

It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.