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Hundreds extra had been injured when the 6.2-magnitude quake struck within the early hours, triggering panic among the many terrified residents of the island, which was hit by an enormous quake and tsunami two and a half years in the past that killed 1000’s.
“The latest information we have is that 26 people are dead… in Mamuju city,” stated Ali Rahman, head of the native catastrophe mitigation company, including “that number could grow”.
“Many of the dead are buried under rubble,” he stated.
Separately, the nationwide catastrophe company stated not less than eight folks had died in an space south of Mamuju, a metropolis of some 110,000 in West Sulawesi province, bringing the full dying toll to 34.
Rescuers had been looking for greater than a dozen sufferers and workers trapped beneath the rubble of the levelled Mamuju hospital.
“The hospital is flattened — it collapsed,” stated Arianto from the rescue company in Mamuju metropolis, who goes by one identify.
“There are patients and hospital employees trapped under the rubble and we’re now trying to reach them,” he added, with out giving a selected determine.
Rescuers had been additionally making an attempt to achieve a household of eight trapped below the rubble of their destroyed residence, he added.
The nation’s search-and-rescue company stated not less than one resort had partially collapsed after the quake struck at 2:18 am native time Friday (1818 GMT Thursday), whereas the regional governor’s workplace additionally suffered intensive injury.
A Mamuju resident stated injury throughout the town was extreme.
“Roads are cracked and many buildings collapsed,” stated 28-year-old Hendra, who additionally goes by one identify.
“The quake was very strong… I woke up and ran away with my wife.”
Images from the scene confirmed residents fleeing the seaside metropolis in automobiles and motorbikes as they drove previous corrugated metallic roofs and different constructing particles scattered on the roadside.
The meteorological company warned residents that the world may very well be hit by robust aftershocks and to keep away from the beachfront in case of a tsunami.
“The aftershocks could be as strong, or stronger, than this morning’s quake,” stated Dwikorita Karnawati, chief of the meteorological company.
“There is potential for a tsunami from subsequent aftershocks… Don’t wait for a tsunami first because they can happen very quickly,” she added.
The native airport in Mamuju had additionally been broken, authorities stated.
The quake’s epicentre was 36 kilometres (22 miles) south of Mamuju and it had a comparatively shallow depth of 18 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey stated.
Images provided by the search-and-rescue company confirmed rescue employees checking on two sisters who had been trapped below rubble. It was not clear the place they had been trapped.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic exercise because of its place on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, the place tectonic plates collide.
In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi left greater than 4,300 folks useless or lacking.
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 all through the area, together with round 170,000 in Indonesia.
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