Another Quake in Indonesia, 38 Hurt

With Indonesia still recovering from previous quakes that hit West Sumatra and West Java, another earthquake occurred in the eastern parts of Indonesia on Monday morning. Measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale, the quake was responsible for injury to 38 people and huge losses in infrastructure.

The Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara, in the town of Bima, was the worst hit, being closest to the epicenter of the quake. The quake caused a collapse of an health clinic, in addition to four schools and as many as ten houses. Besides this, almost 50 houses were reported damaged. Fortunately there has been no reports of any deaths as yet. Recorded at 2.41 Monday morning (Indonesia time), the quake's epicenter was about 28 km southwest Raba of West Nusa Tenggara province. The 38 wounded are being treated at the Bima General Hospital, and Health Ministry officials have yet to confirm if there were any deaths in Indonesia's latest disaster.

With the previous 2 quakes - West Sumatra (7.6 on the Richter Scale) and West Java (7.3 on the Richter Scale) - claiming almost 1000 lives in addition to wide scale destruction, this latest quake seems to be significantly smaller. However, with reports just beginning to trickle in, the numbers might inch higher as time passes.

Being a quake under 7.0 on the Richter Scale, no tsunami warnings have been announced, as the disaster management agency gives tsunami warnings only for quakes that are at least 7.0 on the Richter Scale.

While the reconstruction work for the damages of the previous two quakes still not complete, this latest quake only adds to the woes of Indonesia, and its people.