Jakarta (dpa) – Rescuers dug through the ruins of buildings Thursday as the death toll from an earthquake that devastated parts of Indonesia’s Aceh province rose to 102.
Wednesday’s 6.4-magnitude earthquake toppled hundreds of homes, commercial buildings and mosques in the three worst-hit districts of Pidie Jaya, Pidie and Bireuen.
Nearly 800 people were injured, including 136 seriously, and one person was listed as missing, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.
Sutopo also said 3,000 people had been displaced.
Earlier, police said more than 10,000 had sought shelter in mosques, public buildings and tents.
Rescue workers, helped by soldiers and police, searched the rubble using mechanical excavators for people who might still be trapped underneath.
“We are racing against time to save people,” Sutopo said, adding that the provincial government had declared a two-week emergency period to focus on rescue and relief efforts.
Aid and medical personnel had begun to arrive in hard-hit areas.
More than 200 doctors and paramedics equipped with 64 ambulances began working in temporary shelters to care for survivors, said Aceh provincial spokesman Frans Delian.
The quake struck at 5:03 am (2203 GMT Tuesday), with the epicentre 18 kilometres north-east of Pidie Jaya at a depth of 10 kilometres, the national geophysics agency said.
No tsunami warning was issued.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area noted for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island on December 26, 2004, spawned the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 11 countries, including about 180,000 in Aceh alone.
