Death toll rises in Indonesia earthquake

The death toll from Thursday’s earthquake in the eastern island of Maluku has rised to 30, Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency said Sunday.

“Thirty people were killed and 156 injured,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster management agency said, adding that three children were among the victims.

The previous toll was 19 people killed.

Indonesia’s Geophysics Agency announced on Thursday that a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the island of maluku province in the east of the country.

At least 25,000 people were forced to leave their homes damaged by the earthquake, while authorities set up communal kitchens and tents to receive displaced people.

The earthquake damaged hundreds of homes, offices and schools.

The Indonesian archipelago, which consists of 17,000 islands and small islands is experiencing frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its location on the Pacific “belt of fire” where tectonic plates intersect.

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami last year in Palo, Sulawesi island, killed more than 2,200 people and left thousands missing. The Red Cross announced this week that some 60,000 people were still in camps nearly a year after the disaster.

E.M