Guest guest Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Tuesday, 6 March 2007, 14:08 GMT Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia A powerful earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 70 people and flattening hundreds of buildings. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.3, and was centred near the town of Padang. There are fears the death toll may be higher as many people are believed to have been trapped beneath rubble. The quake struck at 1049 local time (0349 GMT), causing panic among residents in western Sumatra. It was like the being in a ship where you were swayed around when there were big waves Solok resident A strong aftershock - magnitude 6.0 according to the US Geological Survey - struck two hours later causing further damage and panic. Rescue workers confirmed that hundreds of buildings had collapsed although the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Jakarta says many of these are likely to be small, wooden houses. Communications cut Indonesian television pictures showed concrete buildings that had partially collapsed or had large cracks running through them. The epicentre of the quake was about 50km (30 miles) north-east of Padang. Emergency officials are scrambling to co-ordinate rescue efforts, but communications to some of the affected areas have been cut. Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, has lost its electricity supply and telephone lines are down. The lack of power has the led the army to evacuate residents from the town of Batusangkar near the epicentre. RECENT INDONESIAN QUAKES 6 March 2007: Magnitude 6.3 quake hits Sumatra, at least 70 dead 18 December 2006: Mag 5.7 quake hits Sumatra, seven dead 17 July 2006: Tsunami from Mag 7.7 quake off Java kills 500 27 May 2006: Mag 6.2 quake near Yogyakarta kills 5,000 26 December 2004: Tsunami from Mag 9.1 quake kills 130,000 in Sumatra Emergency teams are searching at least three towns that are known to have been hit, assessing the damage and trying to count the number of people killed. Officials said 18 people had been killed in the town of Solok while 16 were killed in Tanah Datar. The mayor of Solok, Samsurahim, said the casualty figure may rise higher still. " I cannot predict how many people are still trapped because the process is still on, " he said. " However, there are many houses collapsed, and I believe that the inhabitants are in them. " Hospitals have been overwhelmed with wounded and officials have appealed for medicine and communications equipment. Tents have been set up on playing fields in Solok and Padang to help treat the hundreds of wounded. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6421823.stm Dasha: MO/SA/VE/MA/JU Best wishes, Jorge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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