VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A ceremony for one company of the South Sulawesi police personnel, who were deployed to Selayar Islands District on Friday (Dec 17, 2021) to join disaster mitigation efforts there. (AMTARA) - 

The South Sulawesi police headquarters has deployed a company of personnel from the elite Mobile Brigade unit to Selayar Islands District to assist residents reeling from the impacts of a recent strong earthquake.

The South Sulawesi police also shipped one thousand food aid packages to be distributed to displaced residents along with the deployment of personnel, South Sulawesi Police Chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana stated.

The packages contained staple food items, such as rice, eggs, and instant noodles, Sudjana noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, on Saturday.

The company of police personnel had headed to Selayar Islands District's targeted areas on Friday.

During their community service, the police personnel would help set up public kitchens in several temporary shelters and coordinate with local authorities to help rebuild damaged houses and school buildings, he stated.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Flores Sea in East Nusa Tenggara Province on December 14, 2021, had severely affected the sub-districts of Pasilambena and Pasimarannu in Selayar Islands District, South Sulawesi.

The earthquake had severely damaged 359 houses, while 236 other houses, three school buildings, and two houses of worship sustained minor damages, he remarked while quoting reports of authorized agencies.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) revealed earlier that the traumatic experience of a strong earthquake and tsunami in 1992 might still haunt and trigger a large number of refugees in Selayar Islands to take refuge.

As of Friday, some 5,064 residents were still taking refuge following the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Flores Sea in East Nusa Tenggara Province on December 14, 2021, according to BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

Most of the displaced people taking refuge are the residents of Selayar Islands District in South Sulawesi Province, he stated.

Some 266 other displaced residents are in the Flores area of East Nusa Tenggara, he remarked, adding that the recent strong earthquake did not cause any fatality.

Despite no fatality reported, one resident was seriously wounded, while 97 others sustained minor injuries in the recent strong earthquake, according to Muhari.

Earthquakes regularly strike various parts of Indonesia, as the country lies on the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known as the Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and cause frequent volcanic and seismic activities//ANT