JAKARTA (INDONESIA) – The disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) informed on Sunday that at least 56 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia’s West Sulawesi province on Friday.
More than 820 people were injured and about 15,000 left their homes after the 6.2 magnitude quake. Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia’s meteorological, climatology and geophysical agency (BMKG), has said that another quake in the region could potentially trigger a tsunami.
Just two weeks into the new year, the world’s fourth-most populous country is again battling several disasters. Floods in North Sulawesi and South Kalimantan province each have killed at least five this month, while landslides in West Java province have killed at least 28, authorities said. East Java’s Semeru mountain erupted late on Saturday, but there have been no reports of casualties or evacuations.
Dwikorita said extreme weather and other “multi-dangers” of hydrometeorology are forecast in the coming weeks.