Dozens killed as quake hits Indonesia

Shafaq News/ At least 34 people have been killed and more than 600 injured after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck and toppled buildings in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island in the early hours of Friday morning, according to authorities.

The 6.2-magnitude quake on Friday morning came just hours after an earlier, smaller tremor.

No tsunami warning was issued but at least 15,000 people have been displaced following the quake, fleeing to safety.

“There are patients and hospital employees trapped under the rubble and we’re now trying to reach them,” A witness told AFP news agency.

“That number (deaths) could grow but we hope it won’t… Many of the dead are buried under rubble,” Ali Rahman, head of Mamuju’s disaster mitigation agency told AFP.

Local reports say among the badly damaged buildings include homes, two hotels, the governor's office and a mall.

Images and videos posted online showed the damage and several people trapped in collapsed structures.

Authorities have warned that strong aftershocks could follow the two main quakes and that they could still trigger a tsunami.

Indonesia has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis because it lies on the so-called Ring of Fire - a line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions on the Pacific rim.

In 2004, a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra killed 226,000 people across the Indian Ocean, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

In 2018, more than 2,000 were killed in a Sulawesi quake.