Sulawesi quake death toll mounts as rescue efforts hampered by blackouts

More than 200 people are receiving treatment in the Bhayangkara police hospital and several others in Mamuju alone. Another 630 have been hurt in Majene, said the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s chief Doni Monardo.

At least 300 houses in Majene were damaged and about 15,000 people moved to shelters. Many survivors said that aid has not reached them yet due to damaged roads and disrupted communications.

Among those pulled alive was a young girl who was stuck in the wreckage of a house with her sister.

In a video released on Friday, she identified herself as Angel and said that her sister Catherine was beside her under the rubble and was still breathing.

The fate of Catherine and other family members was unclear.

The quake set off landslides in three locations and blocked a main road connecting Mamuju to Majene. Power and phone lines were down in many areas.

Mamuju, the capital of West Sulawesi province with nearly 75,000 people, was strewn with debris from collapsed buildings. A governor office building was almost flattened by the quake and a shopping mall reduced to a crumpled hulk. A large bridge collapsed and patients with drips laid on folding beds under tarpaulin tents outside one of the damaged hospitals.

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Two hospitals in the city were damaged and others overwhelmed.

Two ships headed to the devastated areas from the nearby cities of Makassar and Balikpapan with rescuers and equipment, including excavators.

State-owned firm AirNav Indonesia, which oversees aircraft navigation, said the quake did not cause significant damage to the Mamuju airport runway or control tower.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has instructed his Cabinet ministers and disaster and military officials to coordinate the response.

In a telegram sent by the Vatican on behalf of Pope Francis, the pontiff expressed “heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this natural disaster.”

The pope was praying for “the repose of the deceased, the healing of the injured and the consolation of all who grieve.” Francis also offered encouragement to those continuing search and rescue effects, and he invoked “the divine blessings of strength and hope”.

Indonesia, home to more than 260 million people, is frequently hit by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Palu on Sulawesi island set off a tsunami and caused soil to collapse in a phenomenon called liquefaction. More than 4,000 people died, many of the victims buried when whole neighbourhoods were swallowed in the falling ground.

A massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island in western Indonesia in December 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

AP