Quake victims return home despite trauma

Dozens of residents of Sigani and Kasano villages in North Mamuju regency in West Sulawesi have returned to their respective homes following a 5.3-magnitude earthquake which killed one person and injured five others on Wednesday morning.

But some other residents whose houses were severely damaged by the disaster opted to stay with their relatives, although the local government had erected tents and provided them with food and medical supplies.

Local police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Kamaruddin said on Wednesday night the residents were traumatized by the quake and expressed fear of aftershocks.

"They returned to their homes despite the trauma,” said Kamaruddin, who visited the quake victims earlier in the day.

He said the quake damaged 92 houses, 14 of them were flattened. A number of buildings, including an elementary school, a mosque, an Islamic boarding school and the local police post, were slightly damaged. Cracks were also found in a number of road sections and in a bridge following the tremor.

A local resident, Awal, 35, was killed under the rubble of his collapsed home.