The quake, which lasted seven seconds and was followed by a series of aftershocks, damaged 300 homes and two hotels, Reuters reported. A hospital and the provincial governor's office collapsed. Authorities told Reuters that some people were trapped under the rubble.
Landslides have occurred in several places, power supply has been cut off in various areas, road communication is being disrupted due to damage to bridges. The Indonesian Disaster Management Agency initially reported four deaths and 63 injuries in the town of Mazeni. Later, news of casualties started coming from the surrounding area.
The country's national disaster response agency said in a report on Friday evening that 42 people had died. Most of them are from Mamuju area. And the rest are people from the neighboring Majeni area. More than 720 people were injured. Safaruddin, a spokesman for the provincial government in West Sulawesi, said tents, food and medical supplies needed to be sent to the affected areas on an emergency basis, in addition to telecommunications and bridge repairs. Although no tsunami alert was issued after the quake struck at around 1.30pm, many panicked locals tried to evacuate to higher ground. As seen on social media, people are trying to remove the rubble with empty hands to rescue a child trapped under a collapsed building. Hours earlier, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the same district of Indonesia on Thursday, damaging several homes.
The Meteorological and Geographical Agency of Indonesia said in a press conference that there have been several such earthquakes in the last 24 hours. More powerful blows may come in front, which could also create a tsunami threat. The epicenter was reported below the Pacific Ocean floor, however; no tsunami alert was issued. The epicenter was reported below the Pacific Ocean floor, however; no tsunami alert was issued. Thousands of people died in that incident.
A previous earthquake in 2004 killed at least 230,000 people when a magnitude 9.1 earthquake shook the region of Sumatra in Indonesia.