Some 768 houses in Selayar Islands District, South Sulawesi Province, were damaged due to a powerful earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, Pasimarannu Subdistrict head Samsil has informed.

“According to data, 768 houses were damaged in Pasimarannu Subdistrict, of which 203 were severely damaged and 565 were mildly impaired,” Samsil said to South Sulawesi Acting Governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman in Selayar on Sunday.

He added, the earthquake also marred a number of government facilities, including a huge dock of a port and a boat mooring dock in Lambego Village.

“The other mangled public facilities are mosques and schools,” Samsil said.

Meanwhile, Sulaiman has granted financial aid of Rp8 billion to Selayar Islands District Head for mitigating the impact of the disaster. He hoped, the assistance can be utilized by the district government, especially for the emergency response in Selayar.

“We also hope that the Selayar Islands administration can conceive a budgeting system that is really needed by the community and can be accounted for appropriately,” he explained.

The acting governor and his team travelled to the islands by a Super Puma helicopter owned by the Indonesian Air Force and arrived there at 12:00 p.m. local time.

Sulaiman visited Bonerate Island in Pasimarannu Subdistrict which bore the brunt to the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit the Flores Sea, East Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday, Dec 14.

Also on Sunday morning, Dec 19, East Nusa Tenggara Province’s Larantuka region was shaken by an earthquake with a depth of 11 km, according to a report by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The earthquake of 4.6 magnitude which occurred on Sunday, December 19, 2021, at 03:27 a.m. local time, was centered 8.03 degrees South Latitude and 122.42 degrees East Longitude, or, 68 km northwest of Larantuka, according to BMKG’s official website.

Hence, BMKG reminded the public to be alert of the potential for aftershocks.

Source: Antara News