STRONG QUAKE IN INDONESIA’S SULAWESI KILLS AT LEAST SEVEN, INJURES HUNDREDS

JAKARTA (Reuters) – A RARE PARTY CONGRESS
6.2-magnitude earthquake
on Indonesia’s Sulawesi
island killed at least seven
people, injured hundreds and
damaged many buildings on
Friday, the country’s disaster
mitigation agency said, as
panicked residents fled to
safer areas. The epicentre of
the quake was six kilometres
(3.73 miles) northeast of
Majene city at a depth of 10
kilometres.

Initial information from the
country’s disaster mitigation
agency showed that four
people had died and 637
others were injured in Majene,
while there were three more
fatalities and two dozen
injured in the neighbouring
area of Mamuju.

Thousands had fled their
homes to seek safety when
the quake hit just after 1 am
local time on Friday morning,
damaging at least 60 homes,
the agency said.

The quake was felt strongly
for about seven seconds but
did not trigger a tsunami
warning.

VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
SHOWED RESIDENTS
FLEEING TO HIGHER
GROUND ON MOTORCYCLES,
AND A CHILD TRAPPED
UNDER THE RUBBLE AS
PEOPLE TRIED TO REMOVE
DEBRIS WITH THEIR BARE
HANDS.

Some buildings were badly
damaged, including two
hotels, the office of the
governor of West Sulawesi
and a mall, Sudirman Samual,
a journalist based in Mamuju,
north of the epicentre, told
Reuters.

At least one route into Mamuju
had been cut off, he said, due
to damage to a bridge.
Hours earlier on Thursday,
a 5.9-magnitude earthquake
struck in the same district
damaging several houses.

INDONESIA’S DISASTER
AGENCY SAID A SERIES OF
QUAKES IN THE PAST 24
HOURS HAD CAUSED AT
LEAST THREE LANDSLIDES,
AND THE ELECTRICITY
SUPPLY HAD BEEN CUT.

Straddling the so-called
Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, Indonesia,
a nation of high tectonic
activity, is regularly hit by
earthquakes.

In 2018, a devastating
6.2-magnitude quake and
subsequent tsunami struck
the city of Palu, in Sulawesi,
killing thousands of people.