Indonesian rescue teams hunt for survivors, officials fear over another quake

Death toll from the earthquake that struck Indonesia's West Sulawesi province rose above 60 on January 16. At least 820 people were reported injured and 15,000 houses were destroyed as rescue teams continue frantic search operations for survivors, disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said in a statement on Sunday. Authorities evacuated civilians from the area to nearby temporary camps set up after a 6.2-magnitude quake wreaked havoc on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, toppling homes and triggering landslides.

The Head of Indonesia's meteorological, climatology and geophysical agency (BMKG) warned of another quake in the region that could potentially trigger a tsunami. Search and rescue officials unearthed corpses from underneath the crumpled buildings as the Indonesian army was called in to assist the ongoing rescue mission. In the aerial footages of the island, large chunks of concrete were seen scattered, blocking the roadway passage as building structures crumbled in ruins, which included the regional governor's office.

Several hospitals, shopping malls and public premises had flattened due to the powerful tremor from the quake. Dead bodies were hauled from the rubble in Mamuju, West Sulawesi province, a city of 110,000 inhabitants. Rescue teams feared that there could be more survivors trapped under the debris, nearly two days after the disaster. Thousands of residents were rendered homeless and were moved into the government’s makeshift shelters. Authorities were seen deploying heavy equipment and machinery in the district of Majene to excavate the victims’ bodies. 

President Joko Widodo said in a televised address that the social minister and the chiefs of the military, police and disaster agency are carrying out emergency responses “as quickly as possible,” adding that a Hercules plane with supplies was on its way from the capital, Jakarta.

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27,850 survivors displaced

As many as 60 people died in Mamuju, including nine in the neighbouring district of Majene due to the shock from the deadly earthquake, the director of the National Search and Rescue Agency, Didi Hamzar told sources of Associated Press. The government managed to restore the phone communications lines and power supply grids were fixed in the impacted region. Disaster agency’s data showed that nearly 27,850 survivors were displaced due to the calamity.

"We are unable to return to our destroyed homes,” a father of three who identified himself only as Robert told ground reporters of AP. He added that he fled from his bed while being treated at Mamuju’s Mitra Manakarra hospital, which was flattened by the quake. “I cried when I saw the hospital where I was being treated collapse with people still inside. I could have died if I got out late,” the traumatised man said. The Search and Rescue Agency, thus far, managed to retrieve four survivors and at least four dead bodies from the rubble. Army corps of engineers were deployed across the region for rebuilding homes and clear road blockage caused by the landslide. 

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(All images credit: AP)