Strong quake injures 38 in East Indonesia

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-09 09:14

JAKARTA: At least 38 people have been wounded and scores of houses, school buildings and a health clinic have collapsed after a 6.7 magnitude quake rocked eastern parts of Indonesia on Monday morning, officials said.

In Bima town of West Nusa Tenggara province, the hardest hit and closest area to the quake epicentre, one health clinic, four school buildings and ten houses collapsed, and over 50 houses suffered from light damages, Spokesman of Disaster Management Agency Priyadi Kardono told Xinhua.

"Thirty-eight people have been injured and they are treated at Bima General Hospital," head of crisis center of Health Ministry Rustam Pakaya told Xinhua, adding that he could not confirm any fatality yet.

The quake occurred at 02:41 Jakarta time (1941 GMT Sunday) with epicentre at 28 km southwest Raba of West Nusa Tenggara province and 25 km under seabed, an official of the agency named only Ardiatno told Xinhua.

The intensity of the quake was felt at 4 to 5 MMI (Modified Mercally Intensity) at Bima, Dompu, at 3 to 4 MMI at Sumbawa Besar, 3 MMI at Mataram of the province, he said.

The quake also felt up to the capital of South Sulawesi province of Makassar at 2 to 3 MMI and the capital of Bali province with 2 to 3 MMI, said Ardiatno.

The agency only issues tsunami warning when the magnitude is at least 7.

The quake triggered panic among residence in Bima, said Kusnadian official in charge at the Bima military Command.

"People here were panicked, they rushed out from their homes. So far we get report that only the fence of a building collapsed," he told Xinhua over phone from Bima.

The USGS reported that the quake magnitude was also at 6.7.

The quake comes as Indonesia is conducting reconstruction at West Sumatra and West Java provinces after the provinces were hit by respectively 7.6 and 7.3 magnitudes quakes recently. More than one thousand people were killed.