45,000 left homeless after Indonesia quake

Indonesian women and children displaced by an earthquake rest under a tent in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, on December 9, 2016. The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake leveled hundreds of homes, mosques and businesses across Aceh province.

Thousands of people have been displaced after a devastating earthquake in Indonesia killed more than 100 people, an official said Saturday, leaving communities in ruins as aid trickled into the disaster-stricken province.

 Tens of thousands of people have been displaced after a devastating earthquake in Indonesia killed more than 100 people, an official said Saturday, leaving communities in ruins as aid trickled into the disaster-stricken province.

“We have 45,300 people evacuating in several places as of Saturday morning,” national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Agency France-Presse, adding that the number of displaced had almost doubled since Friday due to an influx of new data.

The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake earlier this week leveled hundreds of homes, mosques and businesses across Aceh province, one of the areas worst affected by the devastating 2004 tsunami.

More than 700 people were injured in the quake, many seriously, according to the country’s disaster agency.

Most of the displaced spent the night outdoors in tents near their ruined homes as hundreds refused to move into shelters fearing aftershocks, Nugroho added.

The army has established kitchens, shelters and a field hospital in the hard-hit town of Meureudu to help the region’s overwhelmed health facilities.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Meureudu Friday, pledging to rebuild the area’s devastated communities as he called on Indonesians to pray for their countrymen.