JAKARTA, Sept 29 (NNN-ANTARA) – The number of casualty climbed to 30, with 156 others injured, while around 25,000 people took shelters, a senior disaster agency official said today (Sunday), after a 6.5-magnitude quake hit Indonesia’s eastern Maluku province, three days ago.
The jolts damaged 534 houses, one bridge, nine office buildings, six education facilities, one health facility and two other infrastructure facilities, according to the spokesman of the national disaster management agency, Agus Wibowo.
Agus said that, most of the wounded persons were in Maluku Tengah district.
A quick-respond task force is assisting the administration of the Maluku province, during emergency relief efforts, he said.
An emergency status has been announced in the capital city of the province, Ambon, from Sept 26 to Oct 9, aiming at paving the emergency relief works.
Fears for the possibility of tsunami and damages of houses amid frequent aftershocks have forced residents to flee their homes and take shelter, head of operation unit of the disaster management agency in the province, Farida Salampessy, said.
“There are some villages where people leave the areas for fear of tsunami from happening after the quake. The villages are empty now,” she said.
Most of the victims were hit by falling blocks of concrete, and parts of the buildings were damaged by landslides, secretary of the national disaster management agency in Ambon, Eva Tuhumuri, said.– NNN-ANTARA