Indonesia earthquake: at least seven dead after tremors and landslides hit Sulawesi

At least seven people have been killed and hundreds injured following a strong earthquake that shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island overnight, prompting landslides and destroying houses.

Thousands of people fled their homes to seek safety when the 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit just after 1am local time on Friday morning.

The epicentre of the quake was six kilometres north-east of Majene city at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Initial reports from the country’s disaster mitigation agency said four people had died and 637 others were injured in Majene. Three more fatalities were reported in the neighbouring area of Mamuju, as well as two dozen injured.

The epicentre of the 6.2-magnitude earthquake was six kilometres north-east of Majene, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

The epicentre of the 6.2-magnitude earthquake was six kilometres north-east of Majene, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

Indonesia, a nation of high tectonic activity, is no stranger to earthquakes. In 2018, thousands of people were killed following a devastating 6.2-magnitude quake and tsunami that struck the city of Palu, in Sulawesi.

Friday’s inland quake was felt strongly for about seven seconds. It did not trigger a tsunami warning, but people along coastal areas fled to higher ground as a precaution. Sirajuddin, the Majene district’s disaster agency chief, said 10,000 people were in temporary shelters.

The full extent of the damage is yet to be determined. The electricity supply to the island has been cut, according to officials, and at least one route into Mamuju, north of the epicentre, is no longer accessible, an eyewitness told Reuters.

Videos shared on social media showed panicked residents rushing to safety, and collapsed homes brought down by the quake. In one video, a father could be heard asking people to help rescue his children buried under rubble.

“My children there … they are trapped inside, please help,” he said.

Footage released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed a girl trapped in the wreckage of a house crying out for help. Her mother was alive but unable to move out, she said. “Please help me, it hurts,” the girl told rescuers.

Other images showed a fallen bridge, and damaged and even flattened houses.

Indonesian TV reported the earthquake had damaged part of a hospital, forcing staff to move patients to an emergency tent outside.

Sudirman Samual, a journalist based in Mamuju, told Reuters some buildings were badly damaged, including two hotels, the office of the governor of West Sulawesi and a mall.

Officials said a series of quakes over the past 24 hours had caused at least three landslides. Hours earlier on Thursday, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck in the same district damaging several houses.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 260 million people, is often struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis because of its location on the ‘Ring of Fire’, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.