Rescue workers scoured the debris of crumbling buildings in Mamuju, Indonesia, looking for survivors of a magnitude 6.2 earthquake as strong aftershocks shook the region.
So far, 46 deaths and more than 820 injuries are attributed to the earthquake, which struck just south of the city of about 110,000 people in West Sulawesi province early Friday.
The temblor flattened a hospital, destroyed a shopping center, damaged two hotels, regional government offices and the city’s airport. No major damage was attributed to Saturday’s 5.0 magnitude aftershock.
Multiple, smaller aftershocks also rocked the area.
It’s not clear how many people are believed to be trapped under leveled buildings, although authorities focused on the hotels. At least a dozen patients and staff went missing after the hospital collapsed.
Rescue supplies are pouring to the island about 900 miles northwest of the capital, Jakarta, and the Indonesian navy is reportedly sending a medical ship to the damaged area to help treat hundreds of injured people.
Some 15,000 residents have fled to temporary shelters, according to local authorities.
Authorities are concerned about a new aftershock of greater magnitude and warned residents to stay away from the sea due to the risk of a tsunami.
Indonesia is regularly hit by earthquakes opposite the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake about 400 kilometers north of Mamuju on Sulawesi Island, in Palu, and the ensuing tsunami it caused, killed more than 4,300 people on the island life.
With Post Wires