The Jakarta Post, 3/6/2007 1:24:54 PM
Powerful earthquake kills at least 9, flattens hundreds of
buildings
JAKARTA (Agencies): A powerful earthquake in West Sumatra killed at least nine
people Tuesday, flattening hundreds of buildings and overwhelming hospitals, officials
and witnesses said.
The tremor was felt hundreds of kilometers (miles) away in Singapore, where some
office buildings were evacuated, and in neighboring Malaysia.
The natural disaster caused a school fire, killing four elementary students, who were
burned during the incident in the West Sumatra's town of Solok, the worse area hit by
the earthquake, Antara news agency reported.
The magnitude 6.3 quake killed at least two young children and a teacher when a
two-story building crashed onto a playground in Solok, and another woman died at a
market, said police spokesman Supriadi, AP news agency reported.
Hospitals were overflowing with patients, many of them with broken bones and cuts.
At least one hospital was evacuated, sending panicked doctors and nurses fleeing
with startled patients limping behind.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor struck 33 kilometers (20 miles) below
Solok, on Sumatra's western coast, shattering windows and toppling power lines. It
was followed by several strong aftershocks.
"Everything in my house fell down ... a cabinet hit me," said Rahma Nurjana, a
resident in nearby Padang. "My neighbor's house collapsed."
Solok Mayor Samsu Rahim told Elshinta news radio that at least 65 people were
treated in a hospital in the town and several others were sent to a better-equipped
hospital in the West Sumatra capital of Padang.
The tremor and at least one of the aftershocks was felt in Singapore, 430 kilometers
(265 miles) from the epicenter, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings,
TV station Channel NewsAsia reported.
In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and
shopping centers, eyewitnesses said.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its
location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines
encircling the Pacific Basin.
In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra island and triggered a
tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people, including 131,000 people in Indonesia's
Aceh province alone. A tsunami off Java island last year killed nearly 5,000.
Tuesday's quake hit around 900 kilometers (660 miles) west of the country's capital
Jakarta. (**)
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