Aftershocks, heavy rain hamper quake rescue operations
CIANJUR, INDONESIA: Driving rain and the danger of landslides disrupted Indonesian rescue workers on Wednesday as they searched for survivors of an earthquake that killed at least 271 people, with an official warning that time was running out for anyone trapped in rubble.
Monday’s 5.6-magnitude quake caused extensive damage in the town of Cianjur, in mountains about 75km south of the capital, Jakarta, and the death toll has risen steadily as rescue workers find victims. More than 150 people are missing.
Recovery efforts on a rainy Wednesday focused on Cugenang, one of the worst-hit districts, where at least one village is believed to have been buried under a landslide. Helicopters were due to drop emergency supplies to two villages cut off by landslides that blocked roads, said Henri Alfiandi, chief of the search and rescue agency.
He said the chances of anyone trapped in rubble surviving three days after a quake were increasingly slim but the danger of aftershocks triggering more landslides down rain-soaked slopes had delayed his teams.
“Because the quake was quite strong and raining, we feared there would be landslides. But we have continued the evacuation process now,” Henri told Reuters.
Authorities were working to bring in more heavy machinery to clear landslides but in the meantime people are digging with bare hands, hoes, sticks and crowbars, to search for their relatives and neighbours, video images showed.
More than 1,000 police officers have been drafted in to help rescue teams. Officials said there had been more than 160 aftershocks including a 3.9 magnitude one on Wednesday.
Health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said there was an urgent need for extra help for patients in quake-damaged hospitals.
“My priority is no more deaths,” he said.
At least 50 hurt after quake in Turkey
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck northwest Turkey during Wednesday’s early hours, injuring at least 50 people.
The shallow tremor struck about 170 kilometres east of Istanbul, the country’s largest city, where it was strongly felt.
National authorities said the quake was at a magnitude of 5.9 - lower than the 6.1 given by the US Geological Survey - and its epicentre was in Duzce province’s Golyaka district, though it also shook other nearby cities.