Tag: Quake

International aid effort for Indonesia quake-tsunami swings into gear

  by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — An international aid effort to help tens of thousands of victims of Indonesia’s quake-tsunami disaster swung into gear Thursday after days of delays, with planes flying in vital supplies for shattered communities. A total of 1,424 people have been confirmed dead and over 2,500 injured after the monster earthquake struck Friday, sending destructive waves barrelling into Sulawesi island. The double disaster reduced buildings in […]

Indonesia clamps down on looting as quake-tsunami toll tops 1,200

  by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — More than 1,200 people are now known to have died in the quake-tsunami that smashed into Sulawesi, Indonesia said Tuesday, as police pledged to clamp down on looting by survivors taking advantage of the chaos. There were reports of officers firing warning shots and tear gas to ward off people ransacking shops in Palu, a coastal city ravaged by a 7.5-magnitude quake and the […]

Quake-hit Indonesia starts burying dead in mass grave

  by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on Monday, victims of a quake-tsunami that devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster. Indonesia is no stranger to natural calamities and Jakarta had been keen to show it could deal with a catastrophe that has killed […]

Death toll in Indonesia quake-tsunami tops 800

  by Harry Pearl  Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — The death toll from a powerful earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia leapt to 832 Sunday, as stunned people on the stricken island of Sulawesi struggled to find food and water and looting spread. The new toll announced by the national disaster agency was almost double the previous figure. Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla said the final number of dead could be in the “thousands” as […]

Hundreds killed in Indonesia quake-tsunami

    by Ola Gondronk Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — Nearly 400 people were killed when a powerful quake sent a tsunami barrelling into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said Saturday, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region. The national disaster agency put the official death toll so far at 384, all of them in the tsunami-struck city of Palu, but warned […]

Indonesian city hit by tsunami after powerful quake

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AFP) — A powerful earthquake hit central Indonesia on Friday, causing a tsunami that slammed into a city on Sulawesi island with officials saying the tremor had levelled “many” buildings. The shallow 7.5 magnitude quake sparked terror among locals who fled into the streets and raced to higher ground fearing tsunami waves. The disaster agency briefly issued a tsunami warning before lifting it. But dramatic video footage filmed from the top floor of […]

Indonesia rocked by powerful quake; tsunami warning called off

Indonesia was struck by a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The country’s national disaster agency briefly issued a tsunami warning before cancelling it. The strong quake hit central Sulawesi island at a shallow depth of some 10 kilometres (six miles), just hours after a smaller quake killed at least one person in the same part of the country. The latest quake […]

5.0 magnitude earthquake rocks Indonesia’s Aceh

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A 5.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s western Aceh province early Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The shallow quake struck shortly before 1 AM local time with its epicenter 20 kilometers northwest of the city of Langsa. No tsunami warning has been issued. Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates […]

UPDATED: Japan PM visits quake-hit Hokkaido as toll rises to 42

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the quake-hit northern region of Hokkaido Sunday as officials confirmed more deaths, bringing the toll to 42. Abe toured the city and commercial hub of Sapporo, where Thursday’s 6.6-magnitude jolt has left houses tilted and roads cracked. He also visited hard-hit Atsuma, a small rural town which has seen most of the deaths caused by the quake. A cluster of dwellings in the town […]

Strong 6.4 magnitude quake shakes southern Philippines; PHIVOLCS records aftershocks

  A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook southern Philippines on Saturday at around 3:16 pm  which was followed by three aftershocks more than two hours later, sending frightened residents fleeing from buildings, officials and eyewitnesses said. The quake struck off the coast of the southern town of Manay in Davao Oriental at about 3:16 pm (0716 GMT) at a depth of 14 kilometers (8.6 miles), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a […]

Japan toll rises to 30 after powerful quake

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll from a powerful quake that triggered landslides in northern Japan rose to 30 Saturday, as tens of thousands of rescue workers raked through the mud for survivors. The majority of the dead are from the small rural town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed from the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape. Around nine people […]