Aftershocks continue to hit the island, including a magnitude 5.0 earthquake early Saturday, with authorities warning that more is expected.
Officers from the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency are being sent to the island to monitor seismic activity, bureau chief Daryono – who uses only one name – told CNN.
“This area is very vulnerable and risky in terms of earthquakes and tsunamis,” he said.
Thirty-seven people died in Friday’s earthquake in the town of Mamuju, north of the epicenter, while another nine people were killed in Majene, a town about 200 kilometers south of Mamuju. Thousands of residents have fled their homes to seek safety, but many are still trapped under collapsed buildings, according to local search and rescue teams.
At least 189 people were seriously injured and a further 637 suffered minor injuries, said Raditya Jati of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Board. The earthquake also caused a power outage and triggered three landslides along the main road between Majene and Mamuju.
Rescue attempts
Ariyanto Ardi, head of the local disaster response department, said teams are now working to liberate people trapped under collapsed buildings in multiple locations in Mamuju, including two hotels and a hospital. “People are reporting that their relatives are trapped under collapsed houses asking for our help,” he told CNN.
“We still don’t have details on how many people are buried under those flattened buildings,” he added.
A woman – who named her Angel – was freed from the rubble on Friday and taken to hospital, Ardi said.
The earthquake has caused additional headaches for a country already dealing with a serious coronavirus outbreak, with more than 882,000 reported cases of Covid-19 nationwide and at least 25,000 related deaths.
Dr. Indahwati Nursyamsi, director of West Sulawesi Central Hospital, told CNN that the hospital’s 19 severe Covid-19 patients had been transferred to a local mosque to keep them separate from the earthquake victims.
The hospital has also set up a large tent and tarpaulin to accommodate the displaced or too scared to go back to their homes, she said Friday.
Facing the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, Indonesia – a country with high tectonic activity – is regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2018, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the city of Palu in Sulawesi, killing thousands of people.
CNN’s Nectar Gan contributed to this report.