VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A tectonic quake struck Balige, capital of Toba district, on Saturday (March 27, 2021). (ANTARA/HO)

A 5.0-magnitude earthquake rattled Toba district, North Sumatra at 3.46 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Saturday, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

Judging by the epicenter and hypocenter depth, the quake was caused by subduction activity, chief of BMKG's Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Bambang Setiyo Prayitno, said in a written statement received on Saturday.

The epicenter of the quake was located on land 11 kilometers northwest of Balige, capital of Toba district, at a depth of 137 kilometers.The quake could likely have been felt by people on a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale I-II in Samosir, he said. A quake of MMI-II was felt by some people and caused light hanging articles to shake, he added.

A quake of 5.0 magnitude is considered moderate and capable of causing considerable damage.

Indonesia sits on the geographically active Pacific Ring of Fire and holds about 40 percent of the world's geothermal reserves.

The Ring of Fire, or the Circum-Pacific belt, is the world’s biggest earthquake belt owing to fault lines running from Chile to Japan and Southeast Asia, according to Live Science//ANT