The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province on August 15 has risen to 100. Rescue teams continued their efforts to locate missing people on the 10th day of the operation.
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The 7.7-magnitude quake was followed by thousands of other tremors, which caused extensive damage. More than 73,000 homes were destroyed, while around 180,000 people were forced to leave the affected areas.
According to the head of the disaster management agency, Suharyanto, the death toll rose after some of the injured people in hospital were unable to survive their wounds. He also said that more than 1,600 people have been injured.
Aid for affected residents is being delivered by helicopters, trucks and motorcycles, Suharyanto said.
This is considered the deadliest earthquake in Indonesia since 2022. That year, a shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake caused the deaths of hundreds of people in Java.
Indonesia has around 290 million inhabitants and lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The area is particularly seismically active, as tectonic plates meet there and earthquakes, as well as volcanic eruptions, are frequent.
