At least 15 people have been killed, 18 others injured and dozens of houses and buildings damaged after a 7.3- magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia ’s Java island on September 2.

Of the fatalities, four deaths are in the Tasikmalaya regency, 10 in Cianjur and one in Sukabumi in West Java province, Priyadi Kardono, Spokesperson of the disaster management agency, was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Dozens of buildings collapsed in the towns of Tasikmalaya and Sukabumi and 18 people were hospitalised in Jakarta .

The temblor caused panic in some cities and brought with it the threat of a tsunami. A tsunami alert was issued but revoked less than an hour later.

The quake was reported as striking at 14:55 pm Jakarta time with the epicentre 142 km southwest of Tasik Malaya in West Java and at a depth of 30 km, according to the meteorology agency.

In 2006, a 7.7-magnitude quake off the southern part of Java island caused a tsunami, killing 596 people and leaving 74,000 others homeless./.