Indonesian earthquakes kill at least 70
Seismic activity struck the region this morning
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Tuesday, 06, Mar 2007 09:55
At least 70 people are thought to have been killed by two earthquakes on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The first earthquake, measuring a magnitude of 6.3 according to seismologists at the US geological survey, hit the island 30 miles north east of the popular tourist city Padang on the western side of Sumatra.
Effects of the earthquake were felt from as far as the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur 265 miles away.
Demolishing buildings and damaging many more the earthquake, which struck at 10:49 local time (03:49 GMT), was followed by another tremor two hours later with a magnitude of 6.1.
It is believed the amount of seismic activity may have killed more than 70 people and the death toll is expected to rise as more information is available.
Hospitals in the region are said to be overwhelmed and struggling to cope with the amount of injured people.
Speaking to Reuters news agency Syamsu Rahim, the mayor of nearby Solok, said: "Our priority is to handle the injured ones, including their families. We have set up six tents at a soccer field as emergency posts."
Described by the US geological survey experts as "strong", the earthquakes follow three earthquakes last year in the region which killed around 5,500 people in total. One of the earthquakes was of a similar magnitude to today's tremors, measuring 6.2, and caused 5,000 fatalities near Yogayakarta.
The island of Sumatra was also badly hit by the devastating Boxing day tsunami in 2004 which killed 170,000 people in Indonesia.