Papua earthquake kills many

[senorpepr]

JAKARTA, Indonesia Nov 26, 2004 — A strong earthquake rocked Indonesia's West Papua province Friday, killing at least 13 people and causing dozens of buildings and homes to collapse, officials said.

The magnitude-6.4 quake struck at 11:25 a.m. and was centered 20 miles from the Papuan town of Nabire, 2,000 miles northeast of the capital Jakarta, said seismologist Edison Gurning.

At least 13 people were killed and 65 injured, Nabire Deputy Police Chief Maj. Wempi Batlairi said.
The quake destroyed 170 homes and shops, three bridges, a church and a government telecommunications building, he said. Authorities closed the local airport after a crack was found in the runway.

The strong earthquake occurred in Indonesia's Papua province.
Tents were being erected to house the homeless.
"People are still scared," Batlairi said. "We are still getting aftershocks from the quake. All of the townspeople are outside because they fear that more buildings will collapse."

A series of aftershocks have continued to shake the coastal town of Nabire hours after the quake.
People are reported to be setting up tents outside their houses because they are afraid go inside.
A Health Crisis Center coordinator in a nearby town says the dead and injured were caught by falling buildings and fires.

Several churches are reported to have collapsed.
The Nabire Airport has been closed.
Nabire was hit by a powerful earthquake in February that killed 28 people and left much of the city in ruins. Authorities said the city was still in the process of rebuilding from that quake.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation of 17,000 islands, is prone to frequent seismic upheaval because of its location on the margins of tectonic plates called the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

Friday's earthquake in the Indonesian province of Papua was felt in Darwin and Cairns in Australia.
Geoscience Australia, however, says the earthquake measured 7.3 in magnitude and was centered 95 kilometers west of Enarotali.

Seismologist Dr Mark Leonard says reports came in from the Australian mainland around 12:00pm ACST.
"There was no serious effect in Cairns or Darwin, it was just some people in the taller buildings, sort of 15- to 20-storey buildings, felt the buildings sway," he said.

"We had a couple of reports from Darwin and one from Cairns that it was felt, so it hasn't been widely felt but there have been some felt reports."

[Wnghs2007]

WOW...Poor people I hope the people affected will be able to recover from there injuries that are still alive and be able to rebuild anything they lost.