At least 20 killed in Indonesia earthquake

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in a strong earthquake Thursday that rocked Indonesia’s remote Maluku islands, destroying homes and triggering landslides.

“The total number of people who died in the earthquake is 20,” National disaster mitigation spokesman Agus Wibowo said in a statement.

“At least 100 people were injured and more than 2,000 evacuated,” he added.

Residents of Ambon, a city of about 400,000 people, were seen helping injured residents in blood-stained clothes, while images showed wrecked homes with collapsed walls and rubble-strewn on the ground.

Some patients fled a local hospital as the quake hit, prompting officials to set up makeshift shelters outside the building, an official said.

“The impact was felt across Ambon city and surrounding areas,” said Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquake and tsunami division at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG).

“Many people were woken up by the shaking… it felt like a truck was passing by.”

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 37 kilometres (23 miles) northeast of Ambon in Maluku province at a depth of 29 kilometres.

The area was hit by at least two dozen aftershocks including one that measured 5.6 magnitude, Triyono said.

An AFP reporter in Ambon described scenes of panic as people fled their houses when the quake struck.

Architect Suryanto Soekarno said a construction site where he and his employees were working was rocked by the tremor.

“It was a really hard shock,” he told AFP.

“Filing cabinets fell over and my employees ran away to save themselves. Some were injured but thank God only with minor wounds.”