Sulawesi quake: Hotel collapses, at least three dead
By AFP
January 15, 2021 @ 9:17am
JAKARTA: At least three people were killed and large buildings including a hotel collapsed when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Friday, authorities said.
"Three people are dead and 24 are injured," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Raditya Jati.
Rescuers searching for victims under the rubble of a collapsed building following a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia. - Epa/Basarnas/Handout
The country's search-and-rescue agency confirmed that at least one hotel had collapsed after the quake struck at 2.18am local time on Friday (18:18 GMT Thursday).
The epicentre was 36 kilometres (22 miles) south of Mamuju, the capital of West Sulawesi, and the quake had a depth of 18 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey said.
A handout shakemap made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. -EPA/USGS Handout
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 quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.
A collapsed building following a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia. - EPA/Basarnas/Handout
On Dec 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia. - AFP