Indonesia quake dead: New quake could trigger tsunami

The death toll from the quake that hit Indonesia's West Sulawesi province on Friday rose to 78, the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said on Sunday, while Indonesia is battling the aftermath of several disasters at the same time. Basarnas confirmed the deaths of 78 people, 67 of them from Mamuju County and the rest from Majene in West Sulawesi. More than 740 people were injured and more than 27,800 fled their homes after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, the Indonesian BNPB disaster mitigation agency said in a report. Some of them sought refuge in the mountains, while others went to cramped evacuation centers, eyewitnesses said. Police and the army have been sent to the region to prevent looting, BNPB spokesman Raditya Jati said. Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Service (BMKG), said another quake in the region could trigger a tsunami. Indonesia located in the so-called. The Pacific Ring of Fire is regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2018, a devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the city of Palu in Sulawesi killing thousands of people. This fourth most populous country has already been hit by several disasters this year. Floods in South Kalimantan and North Sulawesi have claimed at least 15 lives this month, and landslides in West Java have killed at least 32 people, authorities said. A Sriwijaya Air plane carrying 62 passengers and a crew member crashed into the Java Sea on January 9th. A volcano in East Java erupted on Saturday, but there are no reports of casualties or evacuation so far. Dwikorita said extreme weather conditions and other multiple hydrometeorological hazards are forecasts for the coming weeks.