Jakarta:
A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island early Friday, killing at least 34 people, levelling a hospital and severely damaging other buildings, authorities said.
Hundreds more were injured when the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours, triggering panic among the terrified residents of the island, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami two and a half years ago that killed thousands.
"The latest information we have is that 26 people are dead... in Mamuju city," said Ali Rahman, head of the local disaster mitigation agency, adding "that number could grow".
"Many of the dead are buried under rubble," he said.
Separately, the national disaster agency said at least eight people had died in an area south of Mamuju, a city of some 110,000 in West Sulawesi province, bringing the total death toll to 34.
Rescuers were searching for more than a dozen patients and staff trapped beneath the rubble of the levelled Mamuju hospital.
"The hospital is flattened - it collapsed," said Arianto from the rescue agency in Mamuju city, who goes by one name.
At least 26 people have been killed in an earthquake that rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island early Friday, levelling a hospital and severely damaging other buildings, authorities said.
"The latest information we have is that 26 people are dead, all in Mamuju city," said Ali Rahman, head of the local disaster mitigation agency.
"That number could grow but we hope it won't... Many of the dead are buried under rubble."
Strong aftershocks could follow a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island early on Friday, the chief of Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics agency (BMKG) said.
Dwikorita Karnawati told a news conference there had been at least 26 aftershocks after two strong quakes had rocked the area since Thursday afternoon.
At last seven people have been killed, more than 600 injured and thousands displaced from the series of earthquakes in the past 24 hours.
Indonesia has also warned of a potential tsunami if more strong quakes hit Sulawesi.
More than a dozen patients and staff are trapped beneath the rubble of a hospital that was flattened when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least three people, authorities said.
"The hospital is flattened - it collapsed," said Arianto from the rescue agency in Mamuju city, who goes by one name.
"There are patients and hospital employees trapped under the rubble and we're now trying to reach them," he added, without giving a specific figure.
The country's search and rescue agency also confirmed that at least one hotel had collapsed.
The epicentre of the quake was six kilometres northeast of the city of Majene, at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Several thousand panicked residents fled their homes to seek safety after the quake, which did not trigger a tsunami warning but was felt strongly for about seven seconds, the statement said.
The disaster mitigation agency said a hotel and the office of the West Sulwesi governor were severely damaged, and electricity supplies were also down.
Hours earlier, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the same district on Thursday damaging several houses Straddling the so-called Pacific ‘ring of fire’, Indonesia, a nation of high tectonic activity, is regularly hit by earthquakes.
In 2018, a devastating 6.2 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck the city of Palu, in Sulawesi, killing thousands of people.
