Panic at the earthquake in Indonesia: "Very scared"

 

Gustav Sjöholm/TT

 

Published 00.40 Uppdated 14.04

           

          A damaged building in East Nusa Tenggara province. Photo: Kurniawan /AP/TT

At least 38 people have been found dead after a powerful earthquake in eastern Indonesia.

People have fled in panic and rescue workers are frantically searching for survivors in the rubble.

- We were very scared, says Alfred Wempy in the city of Maumere to TT.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.7, occurred on Saturday night Swedish time at a depth of ten kilometers off the island of Flores in the eastern part of the country, according to the US Geological Survey USGS.

Buildings have collapsed, landslides have cut off major roads and several cities are without power, which has complicated rescue work and limited the flow of information.

“Our focus will be on finding the victims buried under the rubble,” rescue leader Fathur Rahman told AFP by telephone on his way by boat to the worst-hit Nagekeo area.

“Very worried”

As of 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT), 38 people had been confirmed dead, according to the country’s authorities.

The earthquake was followed by strong aftershocks in the same area, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.

Later, on Saturday afternoon local time, a new earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck the island of Sumatra in western Indonesia. No tsunami warning has been issued after the quake and it is unclear whether it caused any damage.

Alfred Wempy works at a hotel in the town of Maumere on the island of Flores in the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. When the quake struck, he ran out into the street, where people fled in panic to take shelter higher up.

“Maumere is by the sea, so we are very worried about tsunami waves. I called my son and told him to take cover. So we went to a nearby farm to save ourselves.

A small building in the hotel where Alfred Wempy works collapsed. He also says that he has seen news clips of a port building in the city collapsing, and that a ship was torn apart so that passengers who were about to board fell into the water.

– It was a very strong earthquake.

Affected area

Lukas Lotar works at a hospital in Maumere and says that the ground suddenly started shaking.

– People were fleeing the hospital, the shock was strong. I saw some walls that had cracked, he tells AFP.

Indonesian authorities have urged people to evacuate coastal areas and issued an early tsunami warning, which was later lifted.

Indonesia, with 17,000 islands, is located on the so-called Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean, an area often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Flores was hit by a tsunami during an earthquake in 1992, which killed at least 2,500 people.