Irian quake toll rises to 23

Irian quake toll rises to 23

JAKARTA (JP): The death toll from a powerful earthquake that
struck northern Irian Jaya on Saturday rose to 23 yesterday.

Fifteen were reported missing while the actual number of
fatalities and the extent of the damage were expected to
increase. Local officials said yesterday that poor communication
in the remote areas has prevented them from obtaining more
accurate information.

The quake, which registered 7.0 on the open-ended Richter
scale, has reportedly triggered tsunamis that have destroyed
scores of houses on Biak island and in the mainland coastal town
of Manokwari.

Biak officials said the quake and tidal waves have caused at
least Rp 10 billion (US$4.3 million) in damages.

An aftershock that measured between four and five on the
Richter scale shook the general area yesterday but there was no
immediate word on casualties.

Secretary to the Biak regency administration R. Yap said that
road access on Biak was complicated after many bridges were
destroyed by the quake, which struck at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

"It is difficult to make contact with a number of subdistricts
because the bridges linking the areas were hit by the tidal
waves," Yap was quoted by Antara as saying.

Radio and telephone lines also went down, preventing several
subdistricts, including Supriori Utara, Numfor Barat and Numfor
Timur, from reporting on the situation in their areas, he said.

Meteorology officials located the quake's epicenter at about
63 kilometers under the sea in the Pacific Ocean about 110
kilometers east of Biak.

The tidal waves that followed the earthquake reached five to
10 meters in the coastal areas of Biak and in the nearby isles,
eyewitnesses said.

Among the numerous buildings leveled were Biak's grand mosque,
Mesjid Raya Baiturrahim, and a number of government buildings,
including the statistics and transmigration offices.

The tower of the Frans Kaisiepo International Airport was also
hit hard, damaging navigation equipment, radars and a power
generator.

"The airport is temporarily closed to night flights," he said.

An official from state-owned Merpati airlines, which flies
daily to Biak from Jakarta, said yesterday that the earthquake
had not affected its flight service to the area.

Antara said local authorities were urging people to stay
outside of their homes until further notice. Hundreds of people
in Biak have spent the last two nights outdoors fearing more
tremors.

Meteorology expert Indar Adi Waluyo told The Jakarta Post by
telephone from Biak yesterday that there had been several
aftershocks since the quake struck on Saturday.

"I have just received information from the earthquake
monitoring center in Jakarta that there will be more aftershocks
of smaller intensity," he said.

Meanwhile in Manokwari, more than 2,500 houses were damaged by
the tidal waves.

"The worst hit were coastal areas, where a lot of houses stood
on stilts," Manokwari administration secretary, Marsoedi, told
the Post yesterday.

He said that his office had so far not received any casualty
reports.

In Japan, several thousand households were urged to evacuate
late on Saturday, fearing tidal waves that might be triggered by
the quake, Reuters reported yesterday.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said tsunami warnings were
issued after tidal waves were registered late on Saturday off
Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara island chain in the Pacific,
about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo.

Agency officials said it was the first time in 36 years that
Japan had been hit by tidal waves caused by a big quake in a
distant area. No major damage was reported. (imn)