Earthquakes shake Indonesia, Philippines; no tsunami threat
Jakarta(AP): Strong, shallow underwater earthquakes shook western Indonesia and the Philippine capital region on Monday, but no serious damage was reported and no tsunami warnings were issued.
In Indonesia, a magnitude-6.7 quake that was 16 kilometers (10 miles) deep struck about 169 kilometers (104.8 miles) west of Pariaman, a town in West Sumatra province, the US Geological Survey said.
The Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake was felt in many parts of the province but there was no danger of a tsunami.
It occurred just before dawn and was centered about 161 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of South Nias, a district in North Sumatra province.
Another earthquake of 6.4-magnitude shook parts of the Manila region and outlying provinces at dawn but there were no reported damages or injuries, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The offshore quake was set off by movement along the Manila Trench and its epicenter was about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Lubang island in Occidental Mindoro province, which lies south of Manila, the Philippine institute said. Its depth was about 28 kilometers (17 miles).
Indonesia and the Philippines lie along the Pacific Ring of Fire the seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
A 6.2 earthquake in Indonesia's West Sumatra province last month killed at least 16 people and injured more than 400. Thousands of homes and other buildings were damaged by the tremors that were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore. (AP)
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Malaysian Indian sentenced to jail and caning for raping Indonesian woman in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced in Singapore to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping a domestic worker outside a train station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer.
Sharveen Chetty, 48, pleaded guilty on February 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman in the bushes outside Exit F of a subway, Little India Mass Rapid Transit station, at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her, according to a report by The Straits Times on Thursday.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing on Wednesday.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on February 3. But he changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial, according to the daily report.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence's arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
The judge, however, noted that Chetty had pleaded guilty before the victim and key prosecution witnesses testified, thus sparing her and her friends from going through cross-examination.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of between 11 and 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, noting Chetty’s extensive efforts to disguise himself, and his predatory act of leading the victim away from the rest of the group.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
