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MAMUJU, Indonesia: Torrential monsoon rains hampered the search on Sunday (January 17) for anyone still buried alive under buildings washed away by a powerful earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, after the great quake killed at least 81 people and left thousands homeless.
Bulldozers and cranes were deployed in the devastated coastal town of Mamuju, where buildings were reduced to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including a hospital and the regional governor’s office.
It was unclear how many people, living or dead, could still be under the mountains of rubble after Friday’s magnitude 6.2 earthquake, as dozens of rescuers scoured the destruction, filling body bags with bodies.
On Sunday, police deployed a K-9 unit of sniffer dogs to help search a badly damaged hospital.
“The rain presents risks because damaged buildings could collapse if they weigh too much … and the aftershocks could move them too,” said rescuer Octavianto.
READ: Aftershock shakes Indonesia earthquake zone as search continues
But moving the debris too fast with heavy equipment could crush and kill any buried survivors.
“All the victims we’ve found so far were dead,” said Octavianto, 37, who, like many Indonesians, has only one name.
“Most likely there are already more dead victims if 24 hours have passed,” he added.
Dozens of rescuers reviewed the destruction, filling body bags with bodies, while on Sunday police deployed a K-9 unit of sniffer dogs to assist in the search of a badly damaged hospital.
“We also use our own sense of smell to find potential victims,” said rescuer Kustang Firman at the hospital scene.
“If there is a strong smell (of decomposition), we will focus on that place.”
“ROARING SOUND”
Most of the victims were found in Mamuju, but some were also recovered south of the city of 110,000 in West Sulawesi province.
Friday’s tremor sparked panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 earthquake and tsunami disaster that killed thousands.
“We heard a roar and the house began to shake,” said survivor Jumardi, 50, from a shelter where he and six family members took refuge.
“All he had in mind was that he would die … Everyone was in a panic.”
Rescuers carry the body of an earthquake victim recovered from the ruins of an earthquake-damaged building in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on January 16, 2021 (Photo: AP / Bamu Saseno).
Authorities have not given a figure for how many survivors have been rescued.
A pair of young sisters pulled out from under the mass of concrete and other debris were treated at the hospital.
Meanwhile, bodies were recovered from under a collapsed hospital, while five members of a family of eight were found dead in the crumpled remains of their home.
RUNNING UNDER FOOD, SUPPLIES
Doctors treated patients with broken limbs and other injuries at a makeshift medical center, set up outside Mamuju’s only hospital that survived relatively intact.
Injured people are treated in a temporary shelter outside a hospital after an earthquake in Mamuju, West Sulawesi province, Indonesia, on January 16, 2021. Akbar Tado / Antara Photo via REUTERS
Wawan, who was buried under his house until his neighbors released him, initially did not want to go to a hospital to treat his broken foot, fearing another earthquake.
“He was traumatized,” the 27-year-old said.
“But people convinced me that doctors treated patients outside the building, so I agreed to go.”
Thousands of people made homeless by the earthquake went to makeshift shelters, many little more than tarp-covered tents filled with entire families.
They said they were running out of food, blankets and other aid as emergency supplies were quickly dispatched to the worst affected region.
Many survivors are unable to return to their destroyed homes, or were too scared to return, fearing an aftershock-triggered tsunami common after strong earthquakes.
“It’s better to take shelter before something worse happens,” Mamuju resident Abdul Wahab said from inside a tent with his wife and four children, one of whom is just a baby.
Fearing a coronavirus outbreak in the crowded camps, authorities were trying to separate the high-risk and low-risk groups.
Disaster prone
Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of nearly 270 million people, has been hit by a series of natural disasters this week.
Landslides triggered by torrential rains killed at least 32 people on the island of Java, while dozens are dead or missing after severe flooding hit another part of Sulawesi and Kalimantan, the Borneo section of Indonesia.
The Mount Semeru volcano launched a column of ash and debris about 4.5 km into the sky on Saturday night as bright red lava flowed down from its crater. There were no reports of casualties.
Motorists travel on a village road as Mount Semeru is seen spewing volcanic smoke in Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, January 17, 2021. The highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island, Java, spewed hot clouds up 4.5 kilometers (almost 3 miles) on Saturday. (AP Photo)
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide.
In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Palu in Sulawesi left more than 4,300 dead or missing.
And on December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, causing a tsunami that killed 220,000 people across the region, including 170,000 in Indonesia, one of the worst disasters in history.
