Jakarta - The Indonesian government will on Friday call off
national search efforts for victims of last month's earthquake and
tsunami, an official said.
Two weeks after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Central Sulawesi
province, triggering a tsunami and soil liquefaction, 2,073, people
were confirmed dead and 87,725 displaced, the National Disaster
Management Agency (BNPB) said on Thursday.
"The national search and rescue agency will handover its task to the
Palu city search and rescue agency and they will continue the work,"
BNPB spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said in a press conference, adding that
the national search will continue until sundown on Friday.
The spokesman said that the latest data showed 680 people were still
unaccounted for after their houses were swallowed by torrents of mud
in a process called liquefaction.
"We still can't determine the number of people missing as we still
compiling the data," he added.
The provincial administration has extended the emergency phase to
October 26 considering the massive destruction caused by the
earthquake.
Meanwhile an undersea magnitude-6.4 quake shook East Java early
Thursday. At least three people were killed and eight others injured
by falling debris, Nugroho said.
The quake's epicentre was 61 kilometres north-east of Situbondo, at a
depth of 10 kilometres, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and
Geophysics Agency.
At least 25 homes in Sumenep district in East Java province were
damaged in the pre-dawn quake, Nugroho said.
The temblor was also felt strongly on the Indonesian resort island of
Bali, where an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank is being held.
Nugroho said Thursday's quake was not related to the Palu quake since
the faults that triggered them are different.
Nugroho also denied reports that the Indonesian government refused to
accept help from international volunteers and humanitarian aid
offered by non-governmental organizations that travelled to Palu.
He added there were 14 foreigners who had been denied entry to Palu
because they were not partnered with a local NGO to work in
Indonesia's disaster areas and didn't have items needed for the
affected communities as requested by the Indonesian government, such
as power generators and water treatment.
"International volunteers who have finished their work in Palu and
didn't have those items or qualifications to operate that equipment,
have been requested to leave Palu immediately," Nugroho said.