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Indonesian earthquake leaves at least 70 dead

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 7, 2007

SOLOK, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake jolted western Indonesia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds as they fled shaking hotels, homes and hospitals. Two children were crushed by debris on a playground.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck Sumatra island just before 11 a.m. and was felt as far away as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where some tall buildings were evacuated. Several aftershocks followed, the strongest measuring 6.1, adding to fears of people already too nervous to return indoors.

Many said they would sleep in front of their homes or in the hills Tuesday night.

"Women were crying out in terror. We all just fled as quickly as we could," said Alpion, a welder who joined thousands of others running to higher ground, fearing a tsunami that never came.

Indonesia straddles one of the world's most seismically active zones and has been hit by a string of natural disasters in recent years, the most deadly being the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 160,000 people on Sumatra's northern tip.

At least 70 people were killed by Tuesday's quake, which hit the island's western coast, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters in the capital, Jakarta.

The hardest-hit area appeared to be Solok, a bustling town close to the epicenter, where two children were killed when a two-story building collapsed on the school playground, said police spokesman Supriadi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. In addition, three members of one family were burned alive when their collapsed home burst into flames.

Government spokesman Hasrul Piliang said the number of dead "would likely rise" because tallies from remote areas were still being collected and there were reports of other people trapped under debris.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor struck 20 miles below Solok. It was felt in Singapore, 265 miles away, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings.

In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and shopping centers, witnesses said.

U.S. earthquake expert Kerry Sieh was in Padang on a research trip when the quake struck. He fled his fourth-story hotel room like other guests, stopping only to unplug his laptop.

"I was pretty scared," he said, adding that the fault that spawned the quake was known as the Great Sumatran, which last ruptured in 1945. "I now know why people have a hard time remembering how long earthquakes last."

Fast Facts:

Disasters strike

Some recent disasters in Indonesia:

Tuesday: Earthquake strikes Sumatra island; 70 killed, hundreds of buildings damaged.

Saturday: Landslides triggered by days of heavy rain in eastern Indonesia; 40 die.

Feb. 1: Rivers in the capital, Jakarta, burst their banks, submerging parts of the city; 57 killed, 450,000 displaced.

Dec. 29: Ferry sinks in Java Sea storm; more than 400 killed.

Dec. 23: Heavy rains touch off floods on Sumatra; more than 100 killed, more than 400,000 displaced.

July 17: Quake triggers tsunami off Java island's southern coast; at least 600 killed.

June 19: Floods and mud flows in southern Sulawesi province; up to 300 die.

May 27: Earthquake in central Java kills at least 5,800 people and injures more than 36,000.

May: Explosions spew hot ash down slopes of Mount Merapi; 15,000 villagers flee.

March 28, 2005: Quake hits Nias, Banyak and Simeulue islands off Sumatran coast; more than 900 killed, tens of thousands left homeless.

Dec. 26, 2004: Earthquake sets off a tsunami, mostly in Aceh province on Sumatra; more than 160,000 killed.

[Last modified March 7, 2007, 01:20:16]