Indonesia authorities say death toll from quake climbs to 23

JAKARTA, Indonesia  — The death toll from a strong inland earthquake in eastern Indonesia has climbed 23 people, disaster officials said Friday.

A woman inspects the damage following an earthquake in Ambon, Maluku province, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. The strong earthquake Thursday killed a number of people and damaged a bridge, hospital and other buildings on one of Indonesia’s less populated islands. (AP Photo)

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said most of the victims of Thursday’s magnitude 6.5 quake in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, were killed by collapsing houses and buildings.

In addition to the dead, the agency said more than 100 people were injured.

The agency said that at least 117 houses and buildings were damaged and about 15,000 people were being housed in temporary shelters.

Television footage showed hundreds of fearful people in Ambon slept outside in tents or the open air overnight.

With a population of around 1.7 million, Maluku is one of Indonesia’s least populous provinces.

Home to more than 260 million people, Indonesia has frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire./gsg