A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Java island on Saturday, the country's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) reported.

The quake, which the United States Geological Survey recorded at a magnitude of 6.1, was felt in capital Jakarta – where people were forced to evacuate buildings – and in nearby Bandung.

"I screamed to my wife and kids to tell them to get out of the house," Iman Krisnawan, a 47-year-old resident of Bandung, told AFP.

"Usually, earthquakes lasted about 5 seconds, this one lasted between 10-15 seconds."

There was no tsunami alert, according to BMKG. The USGS reported the depth at 68.3 kilometres (42 miles).

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A magnitude-6.2 quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.

In 2018, a magnitude-7.5 quake and subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi killed more than 2,200 people.

And in 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck Aceh province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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