Earthquake death toll at 73 as Indonesia battles string of disasters
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Police officers with a sniffer dog inspecting a collapsed hospital building in Mamuju in West Sulawesi province yesterday after last Friday's 6.2-magnitude quake. There were over 820 people injured in addition to the fatalities.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA • At least 73 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia's West Sulawesi province last Friday, disaster mitigation agency BNPB said yesterday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the country.
More than 820 people were injured and over 27,800 left their homes after the 6.2-magnitude quake, said BNPB spokesman Raditya Jati. Some sought refuge in the mountains, while others went to cramped evacuation centres, witnesses said.
Police and military officers have been deployed to crack down on looting in several parts of the region, Mr Jati said. An emergency response status, intended to help rescue efforts, has also been put in place for two weeks.
Since last Friday, rescuers have been hauling corpses from beneath collapsed buildings in the West Sulawesi city of Mamuju, where a hospital was flattened and a shopping mall lay in ruins.
The authorities have not given a figure for how many survivors have been rescued, and the death toll from the quake could still rise.
Ms Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia's meteorological, climatology and geophysical agency, has said another quake in the region could potentially trigger a tsunami.
Straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is regularly hit by earthquakes.
In 2018, a devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the city of Palu, in Sulawesi, killing thousands.
Just two weeks into the new year, the world's fourth-most populous country is battling several disasters. Floods in North Sulawesi and South Kalimantan provinces have killed at least five people this month, while landslides in West Java province have killed at least 29.
On Jan 9, a Sriwijaya Air jet crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board.
East Java's Mount Semeru erupted late last Saturday, but there have been no reports of casualties or evacuations.
Ms Dwikorita said extreme weather and other "multi-dangers" of hydrometeorology are forecast in the coming weeks.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
