Hundreds feared dead after major Indonesian earthquake
A major earthquake struck late today off the west coast of Indonesia, and police said hundreds of people may have been killed in collapsed buildings. Thousands panicked in countries across the Indian Ocean as tsunami warnings were posted.
Fears of another catastrophe similar to December’s devastating tsunami eased within hours, as officials in countries closest to the quake’s epicentre said there were no reports of big waves striking their coasts.
Early reports of damage and casualties were confined to the island of Nias, off the Sumatran coast.
Around 70% of houses and buildings in the market town of Gunungsitoli on the island had collapsed, said police Sergeant Zulkifli Sirait.
“We still cannot count the number of casualties or the number of collapsed building because it is dark here,” he said in a telephone interview. “It is possible that hundreds of people trapped in the collapsed buildings died.”
The Indonesian government said the quake had “claimed several lives” on the island.
The US Geological Survey said the quake, which occurred at 11.09pm local time (5.09pm Irish time), measured a magnitude of 8.7.
Nias, a renowned surfing spot, was badly hit by the December 26 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that killed at least 174,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean nations. At least 340 Nias residents perished and 10,000 were left homeless. Nearly 100 Britons were killed when the tsunami struck.
Indonesian officials said the epicentre of today’s quake was 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of the island of Simeulue, off of Sumatra’s western coast, and just north of Nias.
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