Death Toll From Earthquake in West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Rises to 84

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The number of casualties from the 6.2 Richter scale earthquake which struck West Sulawesi continues to rise, days after the tremors devastated the regencies of Mamuju and Majene on Friday, January 15.

The head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency or BNPB’s Center for Data, Information and Disaster Communications Raditya Jati said the “number of fatalities from the earthquake has risen to 84 people, up from 46 in the first day of the disaster” he stated in a statement to Kompas.com.

“73 of the dead are from Mamuju regency and the city of the same name, while the rest are from Majene regency.”

Also read: Flight Services to Indonesia's West Sulawesi Operate Normally After Earthquakes: Transportation Ministry

Raditya noted that 932 people were injured in the earthquake. “189 out of 253 people with serious injuries came from Mamuju regency, while another 679 persons were lightly wounded in both Mamuju and Majene.”

He added that many of the wounded were injured by rubble from over 400 collapsed buildings in the city of Mamuju.

Raditya also pointed out that the number of people displaced by the disaster has also gone up to 19,435. But Raditya still struck an optimistic note. “Fortunately, electricity has been restored to both Mamuju and Majene. Access to the outside world [via the Trans-Sulawesi road ]have also been restored.”

Also read: 6.2 Richter Scale Earthquake Hits Indonesia's West Sulawesi Province

The Meteorogical, Climatology and Geophysics Agency [BMKG] announced that West Sulawesi experienced up to 31 aftershocks after last Friday’s earthquake.

“The last aftershocks occurred on Monday, and it measure 4.2 on the Richter scale,” said BMKG Earthquake and Mitigation head Rahmat Triyono.

“We have set up alarms and other countermeasures in our posts, which hopefully can relay the alert on earthquakes or tsunamis to the public within two or three minutes. We hope that the speed that we can convey the alarm could avoid mass panic as well.”

The West Sulawesi earthquake was felt as far afield as the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, as well as Palu, Central Sulawesi.

(Writer: Nicholas Ryan Aditya | Editors: Kristian Erdianto | Diamanty Meiliana)

Sources: 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/18/18163371/update-84-orang-meninggal-akibat-gempa-di-sulawesi-barat. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/18/17472931/hingga-senin-sore-bmkg-catat-31-kali-gempa-terjadi-di-sulawesi-barat?page=all#page2.