Death Toll In Indonesian Earthquake Rises To 81

DEATH toll in Indonesian earthquake rises to 81 and bad weather hampers search for survivors

The number of dead has now risen to 81 after a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the province of West Sulawesi around 2:30 a.m., local time, on Friday, January 15, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Frantic searches for those still missing are been hampered by the monsoon rains.

“The rain poses risks because damaged buildings could collapse if it gets too heavy… and aftershocks could move them too,” one rescuer told the AFP news agency.

Excavating debris too fast could crush and kill any buried survivors, he added.

In a statement, Search and Rescue agency Basarnas said that five of those who lost their lives were from the same family, and that most of the fatalities were from the Mamuju district in West Sulawesi. More than 740 people have been injured in the shocking tremor and more than 27,000 were forced to flee their homes, according to Indonesia’s disaster agency (BNPB).

In 2018, a strong earthquake and tsunami killed more than 4,000 people in Central Sulawesi, about 500 kilometres from Majene.

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