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)