31 dead after earthquake

Press, 22 August 1977, Page 1

31 dead after earthquake

NZPA-Reuter Jakarta Indonesian officials yesterday virtually gave up hope of finding 69 people listed as missing after the powerful earthquake and subsequent titdal waves which hit several south-eastern islands on Friday. They said 31 bodies had so far been recovered on the two hard-hit islands of Surnba and Sumbawa. but authorities had found n<» sign of 69 others reported missing Among those missing and presumed dead are 23 fishermen of a tiny fishing village on the sandalwood island of Surnba, which was smashed by a wall of water flung by the earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded. Officials quoted local authorities on Surnba and Sumbawa. not far from the tourist island of Bali, as I saying that hundreds of buildings, including Gov- '[ emment offices, were destroyed or damaged. The national Antara news agency reported from

the area that huge tidal waves flung people several metres high and that one L3-year-old boy hit by a wave was found hanging from a tree. The earthquake, measured at 8.3 on the Richter scale in distant Sweden, was so powerful that it bent the needles on recording instruments throughout Indonesia and set buildings swaying 3000 km away in Western Australia. It was comparable in strpngth to the tremor which dev.i stated Tangshan last vear. Indonesian officials have said it would be several days before the full extent of the disaster becomes known because of communications problems with outlying island chains. Strong tremors were also felt in Bali. Lombok, and Surabaya, capital of East Java, where people ran from their homes in panic. Meanwhile, officials said a light tremor was felt in Banyuwangi, on the eastern tip of East Java, yesterday. But there were no reports of damage.