At least 35 people have been killed and hundreds injured after an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island. The meteorological agency warned of aftershocks, possibly strong enough to trigger a tsunami.
Hundreds of buildings including a hospital have been damaged in the quake that had its epicentre 6 km northeast of Majene town. The head of Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said that Friday’s quake was preceded by a 5.9 magnitude quake on Thursday afternoon and at least 26 aftershocks were felt after the quake on Friday.
At least 15,000 people are reported to have been dislocated due to the quake and several others trapped. According to the disaster mitigation agency, the office of the West Sulawesi governor and a hotel have been damaged, too, as a result of the quake.
On December 26, 2004, a quake of 9.1 magnitude off the north of Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in coastal regions of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia. In 2018, an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude triggered a tsunami in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island, killing thousands.
As images of the aftermath of the disaster emerged on social media, West Sulawesi spokesperson of the provincial government said telecommunications and several damaged bridges need to be fixed by authorities besides need for delivering tents, food and medical supplies.
Indonesia is located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which includes New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, the US, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Russia and Peru, making coastal areas of these nations more prone to earthquakes. Geologists are in concurrence of movement, collision and destruction of lithospheric plates in these nations located on or in proximity to the Pacific Ocean.
