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Indonesian Earthquake: 102 killed, rescue operations underway

December 8, 2016 3:00 PM |

Indonesian Earthquake

8 Dec, 2016 03:00 PM

   


7 Dec, 2016 03:00 PM

     


Indonesia’s Aceh province was hit by a strong undersea earthquake of 6.5 magnitude early on Wednesday. The earthquake was centered about 10 kilometers north of Reuleut, a town in northern Aceh, at a depth of 17 kilometers. People panicked and rushed outdoors as houses collapsed. In fact, some several mosques, stores and homes were flattened.

Almost 54 people have been reported dead, out of which 54 were in Pidie Jaya regency alone and one in Bireuen regency; several people were stuck inside collapsed buildings and were being evacuated with the help of heavy machinery. There is an urgent need for excavation equipment to move heavy debris and emergency supplies.

The Pidie Jaya regency is located 18 kilometers southwest of the epicenter. It’s the most severely affected district, wherein hundreds of people have been injured.

During the quake, residents of a nearby town of Lhokseumawe ran out of their houses and many people fled to higher ground.

According to experts, the earthquake was unlikely to trigger a tsunami, however at least five aftershocks were felt after the quake.

Indonesia is considered as the world’s largest archipelago and is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, which is an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

The quake is expected to have been felt by people as far as 836 kilometres away and damage could extend as far as 67 kilometres from the epicentre.

Image Credit: youtube.com

 






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