Indonesia Earthquake Kills 68 as Rescuers Search Rubble on Independence Day

ENDE, Indonesia, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Residents of villages in eastern Indonesia hit by a deadly earthquake that killed at least 68 people were awaiting aid on Monday as rescuers combed through collapsed buildings in search of people trapped beneath the rubble.

Late on Monday, the death toll was raised to 68 from 54 previously, said Berton SP Panjaitan, an official at Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, adding that more than 200 have been injured.

Thousands have been evacuated following the country's deadliest disaster since a 2022 quake killed hundreds in West Java, with many sheltering in tents outdoors and afraid to return to their homes due to fears of aftershocks. 

The tremor has cast a grim shadow over Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations and residents of East Nusa Tenggara have been jolted by nearly 1,600 aftershocks in the province as of Monday, Panjaitan said. The country's geophysics agency reported a 5.6 quake in the region on Monday morning.

The quake also caused landslides and blocked roads across Indonesia's southernmost province, including the regions of Sikka and Manggarai.

In the parking lot of a damaged health centre littered with tents and hospital beds in a village close to the quake-affected Ende region, Firmus Woge, a 64-year-old farmer, was being treated for his asthma, aggravated by the quake-induced panic.

He had difficulty breathing overnight "but it's getting worse again after this morning's quake," he said, gasping for breath.

In nearby tents, Emilianus Oro, a 56-year-old farmer from Ranukolo village, said about 70 mostly female residents lacked clean water, leading children to contract diarrhoea. He said one older person had a stroke and residents have not received aid.

Elsewhere, Veronika Nggambi, 22, was tending to her baby with her mother, swaddled in a brown blanket, in the back of a pickup truck as her house was no longer inhabitable.

"I can only eat rice with nothing else," she said. "We need aid as soon as possible. We are just salt farmers."

SEARCH TO CONTINUE

The search was still continuing on Monday, Panjaitan said, with rescuers receiving no missing person reports. 

Fathur Rahman, chief at the rescue office in Maumere, Sikka's capital, told Reuters on Monday the search would focus on aerial monitoring for anyone missing using a helicopter and an extrication device.

Authorities readied planes to deliver aid such as food and tents, Panjaitan said. The quake damaged around 500 homes, the agency said previously.   

Indonesia will also build an emergency field hospital in several areas, said Benjamin Paulus Octavianus, the country's deputy health minister.

Neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons are needed to treat head trauma and broken bones, Benjamin said.

'I DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT ANYMORE'

In Jakarta, about 1,500 km (930 miles) west of the disaster zone, President Prabowo Subianto presided on Monday over celebrations marking Indonesia's independence from Japanese rule in 1945.

Meanwhile, residents fleeing from an Ende village in fear of tsunamis brought their clothes and mattresses to higher ground.

Asked about how he felt about the Independence Day celebrations, one resident, Gervas, 42, said: "I don't think about that anymore … I just think about the safety of my wife and 4-year-old twins."

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia in Ende and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Editing by David Stanway and Saad Sayeed)