Death toll from eastern Indonesia earthquake rises to 100

JAKARTA – The death toll from an earthquake that hit eastern Indonesia reached 100 on Aug 24, the national disaster agency chief said, as relief operations continued for a 10th day.The 7.7-magnitude quake shook the province of East Nusa Tenggara on Aug 15, followed by thousands of aftershocks, damaging more than 73,000 homes and forcing the evacuation of about 180,000 people.The death toll reached 100 as more people undergoing treatment succumbed to their injuries, disaster agency head Suharyanto said in a press conference, adding that more than 1,600 people were injured.The authorities were distributing aid using helicopters, trucks, and motorcycles, he said.The earthquake on Flores island was Indonesia’s deadliest since 2022, when a shallow 5.6-magnitude quake killed hundreds in West Java.Indonesia, an archipelago of 290 million people, straddles the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a seismically active zone where tectonic plates meet and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent. REUTERS