BFF-15 Indonesian earthquake death toll reaches 555

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INDONESIA-QUAKE

Indonesian earthquake death toll reaches 555

JAKARTA, Aug 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A string of deadly earthquakes that
rocked Indonesia’s Lombok island this summer killed 555 people and injured
nearly 1,500, the disaster agency said Friday, with hundreds of thousands
left homeless.

The picturesque island next to holiday hotspot Bali was hit by two deadly
quakes on July 29 and August 5. On Sunday it was shaken by a string of fresh
tremors and aftershocks, with the strongest measuring 6.9 magnitude.

Indonesia’s disaster agency said Friday most of the deaths occured in the
northern part of Lombok, with several also killed in neighbouring Sumbawa
island.

Many victims were killed by falling debris as the tremors rippled across
the island, causing widespread devastation.

Whole communities were flattened, leaving cracked streets lined with
rubble, caved-in roofs and collapsed buildings.

Some 390,000 people remain displaced after the quakes, the disaster agency
said.

Aid organisations have vowed to step up humanitarian assistance on the
island as devastated residents struggle in makeshift displacement camps.

They warned that access to food, shelter and clean water has been
insufficient for some residents displaced by the disasters.

“We’ve deployed troops to isolated villages that are difficult to reach,”
disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

“There are many villages… that are hard to access with motorbikes. Some
aid has to be delivered on foot.”

Rebuilding costs are estimated to top seven trillion rupiah ($478 million).

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic
plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes
occur.

In 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Sumatra and
triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including
168,000 in Indonesia alone.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1014 hrs