Quake death toll rises to 60 as Indonesia struggles with string of disasters
17 January, 2021
At least 60 persons have already been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia's West Sulawesi province on Fri (Jan 15), the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, the most recent in a string of disasters going to the Southeast Asian nation.
More than 820 persons were injured and about 15,000 left their homes after the 6.2-magnitude quake, the BNPB said. Some sought refuge in the mountains, while some went to cramped evacuation centres, witnesses explained.
Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia's meteorological, climatology and geophysical firm (BMKG), has said that another quake in your community may potentially trigger a tsunami.
Rescuers have spent times hauling corpses from beneath crumpled properties in Mamuju, a town of 110,000 people found in West Sulawesi province, in which a hospital was first flattened and a retail center lay in ruins.
Others were killed south of the town.
Aerial images from the devastated seaside city showed buildings lowered to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including the regional governor's office.
It was unclear just how many more bodies could possibly be under the debris, or if there is anyone still trapped but alive more than two times after the disaster.
Authorities experience not given a figure for how many survivors have already been rescued.
A pair of small sisters plucked from beneath the mass of concrete and other particles were treated in medical center.
Meanwhile, corpses had been recovered from under a collapsed hospital, even while five users of a family group of eight had been found dead found in the crumpled remains of their home.
RUNNING LOW ON Foodstuff, SUPPLIES
The thousands remaining homeless by the quake took to makeshift shelters - many little more than tarpaulin-covered tents filled with whole families - which were lashed by heavy monsoon downpours.
They said these were running low on food, blankets and other aid, as crisis supplies were rushed to the hard-hit region.
Many survivors cannot go back to their destroyed homes, or were too scared to return fearing a tsunami sparked by aftershocks, which are common after strong earthquakes.
"It's better to consider shelter before something worse takes place," said Mamuju resident Abdul Wahab, who took refuge in a tent along with his wife and four kids, including a baby.
"We hope the federal government can deliver help soon like food, drugs and milk for the children," he added.
Concerned about an outbreak of COVID-19 in the crowded camps, authorities said they want to separate huge- and lower-risk groups.
The quake's epicentre was 36km south of Mamuju and it had a relatively shallow depth of 18km.
Straddling the Pacific Band of Fire, Indonesia is certainly regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2018, a devastating 6.2-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck the town of Palu, on Sulawesi, killing thousands.
Just two weeks in to the latest year, the world's fourth-virtually all populous country is once again battling several disasters.
Floods in North Sulawesi and South Kalimantan province each experience killed in least five this month, while landslides in West Java province have killed at least 28, authorities said.
On Jan 9, a Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the Java Sea with 62 onboard.
East Java's Semeru mountain erupted past due on Saturday, but there were no reports of casualties or perhaps evacuations.
Dwikorita said extreme climate and other "multi-hazards" of hydrometeorology are actually forecast in the approaching weeks.
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