Dozens injured as 6.1-magnitude quake hits
Indonesia's Aceh
Published on Jul 02, 2013
4:22 PM
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LAMPAHAN (AFP) - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake which hit the Indonesian province of Aceh on Tuesday
killed at least one person, injured dozens and destroyed buildings, sparking panic in a region devastated by
the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004.
The quake hit inland at a depth of just 10km, 55km south of Bireun and 72 km southeast of Reuleuet, the
US Geological Survey said.
Houses collapsed in the district, some 320km from the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
“A child died when a wall collapsed,” said Ema Suryani, a doctor at a health clinic in Lampahan city,
Bener Meriah district.
She added that she has also received around 50 people, whose injuries "vary from open wounds to broken
bones".
Injured people had been transported from several affected villages in two trucks, the doctor said.
People ran out of buildings in panic in the provincial capital Banda Aceh as the quake shook houses for
around one minute.
A massive quake struck off Aceh in 2004, sparking a tsunami that killed 170,000 people in the province on
Sumatra and tens of thousands more in countries around the Indian Ocean.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and
volcanic activity.
Five dead, dozens injured in Indonesia quake
Published on Jul 02, 2013
7:58 PM
Indonesian people walk outside a office building shortly after a strong earthquake struck in Medan on July 2, 2013. A
powerful earthquake in the Indonesian province of Aceh flattened buildings and sparked landslides on Tuesday, killing at
least three people and injuring dozens in a region devastated by the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004. -- PHOTO: AFP
LAMPAHAN (AFP) - A powerful earthquake in the Indonesian province of Aceh flattened buildings and
sparked landslides on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens in a region devastated by
the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004.
In Suka Makmur village, a landslide engulfed a coffee plantation, killing at least one man, Fauzi, said an
official from the local disaster agency.
"A man was working at a coffee plantation with his wife when a landslide caused by the quake struck,"
said the official, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
"His body was found under a pile of earth soon afterwards," he said, adding that his wife and another
woman were missing at the site.
Ema Suryani, a doctor at a health clinic in Lampahan city in the district, said a child died when the quake
caused a wall to collapse.
"We have received around 50 people with injuries suffered when the walls of their houses collapsed,"
added the doctor.
"There are around 30 people seriously injured, some with head injuries. The rest have only light injuries
like minor cuts and grazes."
The 6.1-magnitude quake struck inland at a depth of just 10km in the mountainous Bener Meriah district in
the heart of Aceh, the US Geological Survey said.
It destroyed houses in the district, some 320km from the provincial capital Banda Aceh, and triggered
several landslides in the area.
The disaster agency official Fauzi said three other people also died due to injuries sustained in the quake.
People ran outside in panic in Banda Aceh as the quake shook houses, and in Medan city to the south of
Aceh province on Sumatra island.
"The quake was felt strongly for around 15 seconds, from Bener Meriah to Banda Aceh. People panicked
and rushed out of their homes," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, is regularly hit by quakes. In 2004 a massive tremor sparked a
tsunami that killed 170,000 people in the province and tens of thousands more in countries around the
Indian Ocean.
In April last year an 8.6-magnitude quake struck 431 kilometres off Banda Aceh, prompting an Indian
Ocean-wide tsunami alert.
Five people died and seven were injured in Aceh in the quake and following aftershocks.
In September 2009, a major earthquake near Padang city on Sumatra killed more than 1,000 people.
Indonesia's Aceh quake death toll rises to 22
Published on Jul 03, 2013
11:05 AM
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Earthquake victims receive medical treatment outside a community health center in Bener Meriah, Aceh province, Indonesia,
on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. A strong earthquake that felled buildings and caused landslides in western Indonesia has killed at
least 22 people and injured more than 200 others, officials said on Wednesday. -- FILE PHOTO: AP
BANDA ACEH (AP) - A strong earthquake that felled buildings and caused landslides in western
Indonesia has killed at least 22 people and injured more than 200 others, officials said on Wednesday.
More than 1,500 houses and buildings were damaged across Aceh province.
The magnitude-6.1 quake struck on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of just 10km and was centered 55km
west of the town of Bireun on the western tip of Sumatra island, the US Geological Survey said.
Twelve people were killed and 70 others were injured by a landslide or collapsing buildings in Bener
Meriah, said Mr Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
He added on Wednesday that the number of houses and buildings damaged in the district is still being
counted.
In neighbouring Central Aceh district, 10 people died, 140 were injured and about 1,500 houses and
buildings were damaged, Mr Nugroho said. The quake also triggered landslides and caused hundreds of
people to be evacuated to 10 temporary shelters.
At least 25 of the injured in Bener Meriah were hospitalised in intensive care, deputy district chief Rusli M.
Saleh said.
"We are now concentrating on searching for people who may be trapped under the rubble," Mr Saleh said.
More than 100 houses and buildings were damaged in the district, he said.
"I see many houses were damaged and their roofs fell onto some people," said Ms Bensu Elianita, a 22year-old resident of Bukit Sama village in Central Aceh district. "Many people were injured, but it is
difficult to evacuate them due to traffic jams."
She said people in the village ran out of their homes in panic and screamed for help. At least two houses
were totally flattened, she said, and the power failed in the village.
The quake also caused concern among officials attending a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum in Medan, the capital of neighboring North Sumatra province. They were escorted from
the second-floor meeting room by security officers.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes
and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean.
In 2004, a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Aceh triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 14
countries.
Six children dead as Indonesia mosque
collapses in quake
Published on Jul 03, 2013
12:00 AM
Acehnese women cry as they hold their children outside their house after a quake shook Lampahan village in Aceh province
on July 2, 2013. Six children were killed and 14 others were trapped when a mosque in Indonesia collapsed during the quake
as they were having a Koran reading session, an official said.
JAKARTA (AFP) - Six children were killed and 14 others were trapped when a mosque in Indonesia
collapsed on Tuesday during a powerful earthquake as they were having a Koran reading session, an
official said.
"Six children were found dead under the rubble of a mosque flattened by the quake," said the head of the
disaster management agency in central Aceh district, Subhan Sahara.
"Our search and rescue are struggling to evacuate an estimated 14 children still trapped under the rubble."