Rebecca Ratcliffe

Indonesia earthquake: rescue workers search rubble with dozens reported dead – video

At least 34 people have been killed and hundreds injured following a strong earthquake that shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island early on Friday morning, prompting landslides and destroying houses.

Thousands of people fled their homes to seek safety when the 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit just after 1am local time on Friday morning. The epicentre was six kilometres north-east of Majene city in West Sulawesi.

Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including a hospital, which has collapsed with more than a dozen patients and staff remain trapped beneath it.

“The hospital is flattened,” said Arianto, who goes by one name, from the rescue agency in Mamuju city, near to Majene. Rescuers were also trying to reach a family of eight buried beneath the rubble of their destroyed home, he added.

The death toll includes 26 people in Mamuju city. “That number could grow but we hope it won’t,” said Ali Rahman, head of the local disaster mitigation agency. “Many of the dead are buried under rubble.”

In Majene, four fatalities were reported earlier, while 637 others were said to be injured.

The full extent of the damage caused by the quake, which was 10 kilometres deep, is still emerging. Accessing affected areas is a challenge: roads are blocked, bridges have fallen and the local airport in Mamuju has also been damaged. Electricity is cut and phone lines are down.

Videos shared on social media showed panicked residents rushing to safety, and collapsed homes brought down by the quake. In one video, a father could be heard asking people to help rescue his children buried under rubble.

“My children there ... they are trapped inside, please help,” he said.

Footage released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed a girl trapped in the wreckage of a house crying out for help. Her mother was alive but unable to move out, she said. “Please help me, it hurts,” the girl told rescuers.

Rescuers search for survivors at the Mitra Manakarra hospital in Mamuju city Photograph: FIRDAUS/AFP/Getty Images

Busrah Basir Maras, a teacher, 36, was sleeping at home in Malunda, Majene, when the earthquake hit. His family awoke him and they fled immediately on motorbike.

“It took six hours for me to drive my motorcycle [away from] the epicentre. But it was hard because there were many landslides. I was crying and I am still crying,” he told the Guardian.

His family were safe but the head of his village was killed under a collapsed building. Many people have died, he added: “They were sleeping and then buried in the collapsed building.”

Survivors who were still stuck in rubble at the epicentre needed medicines and trauma healing, he said.

People look at the damaged office of governor of West Sulawesi following an earthquake in Mamuju. Photograph: Antara Foto/Reuters

Friday’s inland quake was felt strongly for about seven seconds. It did not trigger a tsunami warning, but people along coastal areas fled to higher ground as a precaution.

The head of Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Dwikorita Karnawati, told a news conference that strong aftershocks could follow, and that another powerful quake could still trigger a tsunami.

In 2018, the city of Palu in Sulawesi was struck by a devastating 6.2-magnitude quake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.

At least 26 aftershocks have been recorded in the area over the past day. The same district was hit by a 5.9 magnitude quake on Thursday afternoon, which damaged several homes.

Indonesia, a nation of high tectonic activity, is no stranger to earthquakes. It is often struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

The response to Friday’s quake is complicated further by the coronavirus, which Indonesia has struggled to contain. The number of daily cases topped 10,000 this week.

“One of our biggest fears is exactly what’s going on right now – what happens when there’s a major event during a pandemic? It’s a perfect storm,” Jan Gelfand, Indonesia head, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“If you have people who are evacuated, the risk [of infection] for those people goes up tremendously,” said Gelfand. “You don’t want to put people in more danger than they are already in.”

Sirajuddin, the Majene district’s disaster agency chief, said 10,000 people were in temporary shelters.