Twin quakes hit off Indonesian island of Sumba: USGS
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two quakes struck in quick succession off the southern coast of Indonesia's Sumba island on Tuesday morning, the United States Geological Survey said.
A shallow and moderately strong 5.9 quake struck at 2359 GMT, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) off Sumba, an island of some 750,000 people.
It was followed up some 15 minutes later by a stronger 6.0 magnitude quake in the same area at a depth of 30 kilometres.
Sumba lies some 1,600 kilometres to the south of Sulawesi island which was struck by a devastating quake and tsunami on Friday, killing more than 800 people.
Thirty bodies are lying at one Indonesian hospital after a quake and tsunami struck Sulawesi island, smashing into a city of 350,000 people, a hospital official tells a TV station.
Friday's tremor was centred 78 kilometres north of Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, but was felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on the neighbouring island of Kalimantan, Indonesia's portion of Borneo island.
The initial tremor, which was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world's biggest Muslim majority country on the holiest day of the week, when mosques are especially busy.
Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth.
It lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. — AFP
The disaster agency says the Indonesia quake death toll rises to 310.
Shrieking with delight, Indonesian kids in disaster-struck Palu rush to cuddle a giant Winnie the Pooh, his horseplay and goofy smiles drawing big smiles in a park surrounded with rubble.
Volunteers are cheering up children across Palu with songs and games as the youngsters come to grips with a city hollowed out and twisted by nature.
An earthquake and tsunami on September 28 has killed close to 2,000 on Sulawesi island and the carnage is still raw, with thousands more believed buried underneath the rubble. — AFP
Rescuers picking through the grim aftermath of Indonesia's quake-tsunami issues a fresh public health warning as more decaying corpses were unearthed from beneath the ruined city of Palu.
Officials says the death toll had climbed to 1,649 with more than a thousand maybe still missing in the seaside city on Sulawesi island, after the region was hit by a powerful quake and a wall of water. — AFP
Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.
Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.
He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.
The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28. — AP
Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck central Sulawesi island a week ago has surged past 1,500.
The agency, which earlier Thursday says the death toll was 1,424, updated the number of dead to 1,558 on Twitter later the same day.
The disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province last Friday. — AP
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