At least 16 people were killed and 100 injured, many seriously, on Friday after a succession of earthquakes measuring at least six on the Richter scale rocked an island in eastern Indonesia, police said.
The quake, which was felt in the nearby country of East Timor, damaged hundreds of buildings in Alor island, 1 000km east of the resort isle of Bali, and left hospitals struggling to cope with the wounded.
Local meteorologists put the magnitude of the quake, which struck at 4.26am Jakarta time, at six, while the Observatory of Earth Sciences in Strasbourg recorded the tremor at 7,3.
By 8.30am GMT, 16 people across the island had been killed by the quake, which was followed by three powerful aftershocks, Alor deputy police chief Hasan Kiko said.
He said the quakes damaged more than 640 buildings, many of them homes, across the island.
”So far, we have received reports of 16 people killed in the earthquake from five police precincts. People here are still wary, because we can still feel more aftershocks,” he said.
Earlier, another police officer said at least 100 people were hospitalised for serious and minor injuries and many people had left their dwellings and huddled in open fields on Alor.
Residents set up camp outside their houses fearing further tremors while tents were pitched outside the island’s main hospital in the town of Kalabahi to treat victims.
The earthquake was also felt in the East Timor capital, Dili, roughly 50km to the south-east of Alor, prompting many there to flee their homes.
There were no casualties and no major damage to the half-island nation, but residents said a floating hotel in Dili’s natural harbour was briefly grounded as the quake caused waters to recede.
Aftershocks continued to be felt.
East Timor’s national security chief, David Ximenes, said meteorologists have warned of a major seismic event in the next two days and warned citizens to stay away from shorelines and major rivers where tidal waves are a risk.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of more than 17 000 islands, lies at the junction of three major tectonic plates that cause frequent earthquakes and trigger regular volcanic eruptions.
In February, at least 28 people were killed when a succession of powerful earthquakes hit Indonesia’s Papua province.
A month earlier a quake measuring 6,1 on the Richter scale damaged more than 6 000 buildings and caused financial losses of about $12-million on Bali and Lombok.
In June 2000, a quake measuring at 7,3 on the Richter scale killed at least 94 people and damaged more than 16 000 buildings in Bengkulu province on Sumatra island. — Sapa-AFP