AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim
The Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia was rocked by another strong earthquake early Thursday as rescuers struggled in heavy rain to find survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Over 700 people have been killed and the death toll is expected to rise, officials say.
Widespread destruction, cut power lines and landslides was the vivid scene from the worst hit area of West Sumatra capital Padang. 376 accounted people perished according to the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry's Crisis Center.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported Thursday, the 6.8 magnitude quake hit South Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), about 89 miles (143 kilometers) from Bengkulu. Just a day after a 7.6-magnitude quake struck close to the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.
Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's disaster centre in Jakarta says "Our prediction is that thousands have died." Given the intensity and the spread of the damage officials expect the death toll will surpass those of the massive Yogyakarta earthquake three years ago.
This is the third consecutive mayor earthquake in South Asia in two days. A powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Samoan islands in the South Pacific early Wednesday, triggering tsunami waves that have killed at least 100 people in the Tonga region.
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