Indonesian earthquake kills at least 70 - UPDATE 3 |
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Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:20
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JAKARTA (XFN-ASIA) - At least 70 people were killed in a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the island of Sumatra, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.'So far 70 people were reported dead in various places and scores injured,' Sudi Silalahi told reporters.The quake hit at 10.49 am there (0349 GMT), the US Geological Survey said, about 50km northeast of Padang, the capital of the province of West Sumatra.It appeared to have been followed by an aftershock almost as strong.Budi Sarwono, the chief of police in Solok, one of the towns affected, had earlier put the toll at 41 but said he expected it to increase.Many people were trapped in collapsed buildings and there was no official information about the situation at the quake's epicenter because phone lines were cut, Utjin Sudiana, West Sumatra's police chief, said.Solok mayor Samsurahim, who goes by one name, said at least 65 people had been wounded and four taken to hospital with broken bones, open wounds and head injuries.'Several houses have collapsed. There are hundreds of victims,' he told ElShinta radio, adding that a school had been burnt to the ground after the quake.
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Major quake hits off Indonesia; tsunami risk possibility 