The death toll from a strong earthquake in eastern Maluku province in Indonesia has increased to 30 people, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNBP) said Sunday, and hundreds of thousands of people remain in evacuation shelters.
The 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck early Thursday, damaging hundreds of homes and dozens of public facilities and infrastructure, including the main bridge in the city of Ambon.
Officials on Thursday had put the death toll at 20 people. Many were killed by the fall of rubble.
More than 150 people were injured, BNBP spokesman Agus Wibowo said in a statement on Sunday, and more than 200,000 remain in shelters.
Those whose homes were destroyed have installed tents as shelters near hospitals or schoolyards.
People who live near the ocean have evacuated to higher ground after the earthquake, fearing a tsunami, despite the fact that the authorities have ruled out the possibility of a giant wave.
Indonesia, which is in the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is often hit by earthquakes and deadly tsunamis.
The city of Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, west of Maluku, was devastated by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a powerful tsunami that it caused last September, killing more than 4,000 people.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1508022/death-toll-in-east-indonesia-quake-rises-to-30-many-still-in-shelters