More aftershocks hit Alor, land transportation cut off

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

A string of aftershocks measuring over 5 on the Richter scale again rocked Alor regency over the past three days, but no immediate injuries or fatalities were reported.

Thousands of local residents were forced to stay outdoors after the earthquake on Nov. 12 in fear of further aftershocks.

The aftershocks have also cut sections of roads in Sibone area connecting Alor capital, Kalabahi, and East Alor and North East Alor districts, impeding transportation and aid distribution to the two districts whose residents began to rebuild houses and infrastructures in the area.

Aftershocks have also reportedly damaged a bridge in East Lembur subdistrict, North Central Alor district.

Amin Dopu, a senior government official, said that the government had quickly dispatched heavy machinery to clean up debris from the roads in Sibone, some 30 kilometers east of Kalabahi.

District heads in the regency have not reported any injuries, fatalities or damages, said Amin, Alor's deputy chief of the disaster management task force.

Meanwhile, an official with local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), A. T. Muhammad, confirmed that a string of major aftershocks had struck the regency since Monday.

On that day, an aftershock measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale rocked the city with the epicenter located in Banda Sea, some 56 kilometers east of Kalabahi.

Two other earthquakes, slightly below 5.7 on the Richter scale, again hit the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the epicenter was estimated to be somewhere in Flores Sea, said Muhammad.

Some Kalabahi residents, who were still traumatic after the Nov. 12 earthquake, erected tents and chose to stay outdoors, in fear of more aftershocks.

"They are afraid that they could be buried under debris if they stayed in their houses," said Domi Mooy, a local student leader.

The string of aftershocks over the past three days occurred after a powerful earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, on Nov. 12, which killed at least 34 people and injured hundreds of others. It also damaged at hundreds of buildings in the regency, including places of worship and schools.

There were aftershocks shortly after the Nov. 12 earthquake, but mostly minor shocks below 5 on the Richter scale.