More houses found damaged in Indonesia's quake

The number of houses and buildings damaged by the 5.6 magnitude shallow quake in Aceh of Indonesia on Tuesday has increased to 547 units, local disaster management and mitigation agency said Friday. The disaster assessment team recorded 547 damaged buildings, up from Thursday's figure of 368 units, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management and mitigation agency told Xinhua by phone on Friday. The number of damaged mosques rose to 12. Two bridges were collapsed, 17 school buildings, 36 stores and four government office buildings were damaged, said Sutopo. The local authority issued a 12-day emergency period after the shallow under-earth quake hit Aceh on Tuesday, he said. Financial aids, logistics and other emergency relief aids have been distributed to the quake victims. The quake struck at 13 : 12 p.m. local time (0612 GMT) Tuesday, with epicenter at 16 km southwest Aceh Besar district and depth at 10 km under earth. One person was killed and three others suffered from serious injuries, said Sutopo, adding that all the victims and damages were in Pidie district, he said. The strong tremor triggered panic among local people, who rushed out of houses, said Sutopo. Aceh province was hit by strong quake and tsunami on Dec. 2004, which killed more than 170,000 people in the province in the northern tip Sumatra Island. Indonesia, a vast archipelago country, straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the "Ring of Fire" between the Pacific and Indian oceans.