Relief operations for quake victims

RELIEF operations swung into gear yesterday, a day after a powerful quake rocked the Indonesian island of Sumatra, as a senior official revised the death toll down to 52.

The force of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which was followed by an almost equally powerful aftershock, stunned villagers used to the tremors that often shake this mountainous region of West Sumatra.

Rescue officials earlier said the quake, which hit early Tuesday, killed 71 people and injured hundreds, many seriously.

A spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono revised that figure to 52, saying some of the dead had been counted twice, although the Antara state news agency cited an unconfirmed breakdown of fatalities adding up to 88.

The quake’s epicentre was located 49 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the West Sumatran capital Padang, according to the US Geological Survey, but was also felt in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

Suryadi, a rescue co-ordinator on Sumatra, said more than 1,000 houses had been completely destroyed and at least 2,500 damaged.