Quake rattles N Indonesia
MANY buildings were flattened and almost 100 people killed after an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Aceh province in northern Indonesia, the site of the devastating quake and tsunami in 2004.
Residents were sent running into the streets after the 6.5-magnitude quake struck late on Tuesday night, and remain reluctant to return home amid fears of aftershocks.
The US Geological Survey measured the quake at a depth of 8.2km, 19km south-east of the coastal town of Sigli. Buildings shook in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
No tsunami warning was issued, but at least five aftershocks were felt in the hours after the initial quake, the Indonesian disaster management agency said.
The death toll began at 25 and continued to rise throughout yesterday. Aceh army chief Major-General Tatang Sulaiman said the toll had jumped to 97 by the end of yesterday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble.
Indonesian search and rescue teams used earth movers to clear debris, pulling at least four people out of the wreckage alive.
Sulaiman said another “four or five” remained under the rubble, though it was unclear whether they were alive or dead. “Hopefully we will be able to finish the evacuation from the rubble before sunset,” he said.
Earlier Khairul Nova, an official at the Aceh search and rescue agency, said: “Dozens are missing but we don’t have accurate data on the total yet.”
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, was devastated by a massive 9.2-magnitude earthquake and tsunami centred on its western coast near the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on December 26, 2004. More than 120 000 people were killed in Aceh alone.
Images on TV and social media yesterday morning showed victims being rushed to hospital, flattened buildings and fallen electricity poles, and people gathering outside at street corners.
“The earthquake was felt strongly, and many people panicked and rushed outdoors as houses collapsed,” said Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
A volunteer for the Indonesian Red Crescent in Pidie Jaya regency in Aceh described scenes of extensive damage, and said many people had been injured.
“There aren’t enough medical staff around,” said the Red Crescent’s Muklis, who like many Indonesians uses one name.
More than 200 shops and houses were either severely flattened or destroyed by the quake, officials said, and classes for about 10 000 schoolchildren were disrupted.
In addition, 14 mosques collapsed and one hospital was damaged, according to Nugroho.
Many residents feared a repeat of the devastating 2004 quake and subsequent tsunami. Fitri Abidin, a woman who lives on the coast in the worst-hit epicentre of the Pidie Jaya district, said she fled with her husband and children after the quake jolted awake.
They stayed on higher ground for several hours until authorities reassured them there was no tsunami risk.
She said: “It terrified me. I was having difficulty breathing and walking.
“We ran to a nearby hill, because our house is near a beach.
“We were afraid a tsunami can come at any time.” – The Independent and agencies the family