6.5 Magnitude Earthquake in Indonesia, 20 Killed & Many Injured

December 07, 2016 10:21
6.5 Magnitude Earthquake in Indonesia, 20 Killed & Many Injured

In a shocking incident, at least 20 people died and many injured after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck at 5am (9am AEDT) in Indonesia on Wednesday.

Several shops and houses got collapsed. "The earthquake was felt strongly and many people panicked and rushed outdoors as houses collapsed," Sutopo Nugroho of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said in a statement.

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

Deputy district chief of Pidie Jaya said: "the region hit hardest by the quake, Mulyadi, AFP reported that at least 18 people have died."

“Eighteen have died so far, based on data from the hospital. Some of the fatalities are children,” said Mulyadi.

The BNPB also tweeted images of people who were being treated for injuries in the Aceh regency of Pidie Jaya. Several people got trapped under the debris. Officials are trying to evacuate by using heavy machinery according to the head of Aceh Indonesia Red Cross, Rudianto.

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

Rudianto told Fairfax Media that many people were injured but the exact figure is not known yet. He said, "the focus was on evacuating people from collapsed buildings, where it was assumed there would be further people found dead as well as those trapped alive."

"Some buildings have been completely flattened," he said.

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

The deputy regent of Pidie Jaya confirmed the death toll which increased to 18, while the Red Cross estimated the figure at 20.

"At the moment we are trying to evacuate a family of three trapped inside their collapsed house," Deputy Regent Said Mulyadi said. "We are treating patients outside. We are setting up tents in the yard."  

"I am in the hospital now. We are sending the urgent cases to other hospitals [outside Pidie Jaya]. We can't treat them here. We have more heavy machinery coming to help evacuate," he said.

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

The Ulee Glee mosque of Bandar Baru also collapsed after the earthquake. BNPD spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted images of the destroyed mosque on the agency's Twitter account.

He said "hospitals were receiving Pidie earthquake victims. The aftermath of the morning's quake was being handled by the national and regional disaster management agencies."

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

The Aceh Tribun news also reported that a four-storey building, a petrol station got completely destroyed due to the earthquake.

During the initial 30 minutes of the earthquake, Indonesian meteorological, climatology and geophysical agency BMKG recorded five aftershocks.

The strong undersea earthquake jolted Aceh, which is located at the northwest tip of Sumatra island.

Indonesia Earthquake Photos

Indonesia's Climate Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said: "the quake had no potential to trigger a tsunami."

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where volcanoes are located.

There was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland.

Also Read: Earthquake in Italy, 120 Killed & 368 Injured

BY M. DIVYA SRI

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