Around 5,000 people have been evacuated to safety after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake smashed an area in eastern Indonesia, killing at least 51, blocking roads and causing landslides, authorities said on Sunday.
Thirty-six people were seriously injured in Saturday morning’s earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara province, while 77 others suffered minor injuries, Deputy Health Minister Benjamin Paulus Octavianus said.
The earthquake was followed by around 341 aftershocks and is considered Indonesia’s worst in years. More than 3,300 people in the Sikka region either self-evacuated or became stranded in a sports arena, according to the disaster mitigation agency BNPB.
Many residents of Sikka were forced to stay outside collapsed or damaged homes under makeshift tarpaulin tents. Others received medical treatment in a tent outside a hospital in the port town of Maumere.
“Almost all of Sikka's residents didn't dare stay indoors, so they slept on a porch or a tent outside,” Simon Subandi, deputy regent of Sikka, told KompasTV.
More than 3,500 military and police personnel have been deployed to the region, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said.
Rescuers have reached parts of Maumere that were previously blocked by landslides, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said. BNPB said most of those reported missing were trapped under rubble, while more than 1,300 homes were damaged.
Power outages also forced 20 petrol stations to stop operating, state energy company Pertamina confirmed.
BNPB said the East Nusa Tenggara government is considering declaring a provincial emergency. Such a declaration would allow authorities to mobilise additional resources and funding.
The affected area was struck by a magnitude-7.5 earthquake in 1992 that caused extensive destruction, Indonesia’s geophysics agency said.
Indonesia, an archipelago of about 290 million people, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a highly active seismic zone where tectonic plates meet. The region experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
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