JAKARTA: The number of people displaced and injured by a powerful earthquake three days ago has jumped significantly, emergency officials said on Tuesday, with at least 40,000 people living in temporary shelters. The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude quake that hit Flores Island in Indonesia's east on Saturday also rose to 70 after two more fatalities were confirmed.
More than 40,000 people were now listed as displaced by the quake, according to the national disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, a sharp jump from the figure of 12,800 provided on Monday. At least 1,100 people were also now listed as injured, an increase of more than tenfold from just a day earlier.
The quake damaged almost 12,000 homes across several towns in Flores, where a BNPB spokesman said many residents were refusing to return home as hundreds of aftershocks rattle the island. "The number of displaced people does not reflect the extent of damage to houses, but rather the psychological impact experienced by residents," spokesman Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan told a news conference. More than 2,100 aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday, including 70 strong enough to be felt by residents, he said. — AFP
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