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Powerful earthquake in Indonesia's Sulawesi kills more than 80, injures hundreds
More than 80 people have died with hundreds more injured after a 6,2-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island early Friday, 15 Janaury 2021, according to Indonesia's Disaster Management Agency. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1h28am Jakarta time, was six kilometres northeast of the city of Majene, at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. Thirty-four people died in the city of Mamuju, to the north of the epicentre, while another eight died in Majene. In Majene, at least 637 were injured and 15 000 residents have been displaced, according to the country's National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB). Thousands of residents fled their homes to seek safety following the quake, which could be felt strongly for five to seven seconds and damaged at least 300 houses in Majene. Other buildings have also been badly damaged, including a military command office in Majene and hotels and government buildings in Mamuju. Many people are still trapped under collapsed buildings, according to local search and rescue teams. "Our priority is saving victims who are still buried under the buildings," said Safaruddin Sanusi, head of West Sulawesi's Communications and Information Department. Nearly half of the buildings in Mamuju have been wiped out by the quake. The quake damaged four of Mamuju's largest hospitals. "Mitra Manakara [Hospital] is flattened by this earthquake, while three others, Mamuju Central Hospital, Bhayangkara Hospital and Regional Hospital are also in [a] bad situation. We need more extrication equipment and more personnel to work fast [on] saving victims trapped under the building." Torrential monsoon rains hampered the rescue operations and caused various landslides.
"Our obstacle here is that we don't have heavy equipment to rescue them," Saidar Rahmanjaya, head of the Local Search and Rescue Agency of Mamuju, West Sulawesi. Another difficulty was the lack of communication among rescue teams, as local telephone networks were down following the quake, he said, adding that there were eight locations where people were in urgent need of rescue. The country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami based on meteorology and climatology agency modelling . The earthquake also triggered a power outage and caused three landslides along the main road connecting Majene and Mamuju. Hours earlier on Thursday, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck in the same district damaging several houses. Sources: CNN |
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