Indonesia’s West Sulawesi earthquake death toll rises to 91

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The death toll of the 6.2-magnitude earthquake which hit the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi last week rose to 91, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement on Thursday (Jan. 21).

Meanwhile, at least 1,172 people suffered wounds and 9.910 people were forced to flee their homes due to the earthquake, the agency’s spokesman Raditya Jati said.

The Indonesian government has declared a disaster emergency response status in West Sulawesi for 14 days since last Friday (Jan. 15).

Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently visited the affected areas to observe the conditions of evacuees and the evacuation process.

The president said that the government buildings collapsed by the earthquake will be rebuilt so that public services could resume immediately.

The government will also provide financial aid for damaged houses, he added.

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said that the tectonic earthquake that rocked Majene and Mamuju districts in West Sulawesi was a shallow crustal earthquake caused by active fault movements.

Indonesia has been frequently hit by earthquakes as it lies on the   quake-prone zone in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami in Central Sulawesi province’s capital city of Palu killed more than 4,300 people and destroyed over 100,000 houses.

Reporting by Indonesia Window