Strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolts Indonesia; no tsunami threat issued
World | January 22, 2019 9:05 ISTNine minutes after the quake, an aftershock of 5.2-magnitude struck off the province, an official said.
Nine minutes after the quake, an aftershock of 5.2-magnitude struck off the province, an official said.
The center said that the crater peak was 110 meters (360 feet) high as of Friday compared with 338 meters (1,108 feet) in September.
The disaster was compounded because it occurred over a busy holiday weekend before Christmas when many people had fled crowded cities such as Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, to relax at popular beach areas.
Thousands of people were left homeless when the waves smashed homes on coastal areas of western Java and southern Sumatra.
The death toll was certain to rise further, with 128 people still missing from the affected areas along the coastlines of western Java and southern Sumatra islands, where hundreds of military personnel and volunteers were conducting their grim search along debris-strewn beaches.
Seventeen posted earlier this week on their Instagram page that they would be playing at the Tanjung Lesung Beach Resort from December 21 to 23.
It was the second deadly tsunami to hit Indonesia this year, but the one that killed more than 2,500 people on the island of Sulawesi on Sept. 28 was accompanied by a powerful earthquake that gave residents a brief warning before the waves struck.
The toll could continue to rise because some areas had not yet been reached.
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At least 168 people have been killed after a tsunami hits the coast around Indonesia's Sunda Strait, the government reported.
Willem Rampangilei, head of the National Board for Disaster Management, said there could be as many as 5,000 victims still buried in deep mud.
A spokesman for the Joint Task Force for Central Sulawesi province said a total of 2,549 people were still in hospitals for medical treatment after the disasters hit the province on September 28, reports Xinhua news agency.
Over 1,400 people were killed after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Indonesian city of Palu and and nearby communities in Central Sulawesi province on September 28.
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake and the tsunami it generated devastated the city of Palu and nearby communities in Central Sulawesi province.
Why Indonesia’s tsunami and earthquake was so deadly?
Hundreds of other people have been injured, and scores of uncounted bodies could still be buried in collapsed buildings in Sigi and Balaroa.
The official said 799 people are severely injured. He said the communities of Sigi and Balaroa have not been counted yet, meaning the toll is likely to rise.
The earthquake resulted in panic but there were no reports of damage, said spokesman of a national disaster management agency.
In response to Indonesia's appeal for international aid, the Prime Minister offered to Widodo all possible assistance from India as a maritime neighbour and as a friend of Indonesia.
As per the latest reports, the death toll has risen to 832 and is expected to rise.
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