By Xinhua
Bengkulu (Indonesia) : At least 1,576 houses here were completely destroyed by last Wednesday’s earthquake, officials said Saturday.
According to data collected by Bengkulu’s Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency, most (1,462 units) of the wrecked houses were located in the Bengkulu Utara district with the second largest number (109 units) found in Bengkulu City and the smallest number (five units) in Seluma.
Heavily damaged houses totalled 3,835 units consisting of 2,017 units in Bengkulu Utara district, 864 units in Benkulu city and 70 units in Seluma.
The number of slightly damaged houses was 4,831 units located in Bengkulu Utara district (2,316 units), Bengkulu city (2,106 units), Kapahiang (five units) and Seluma (73 units).
The temblor, which registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, also caused heavy damage to 12 houses of worship located in Bengkulu city and Bengkulu Utara district.
School buildings also suffered varying degrees of damage. One school building in Rejang Lebong collapsed while 150 others in different parts of Bengkulu were heavily damaged.
Some 234 school buildings across the province sustained light damage. The quake also took a toll among buildings housing offices and government agencies.
One bridge and three roads in Bengkulu city were heavily damaged and nine bridges in Bengkulu Utara were seriously damaged.
Meanwhile, the death toll climbed to 17. The number of seriously injured people was six, three in Bengkulu city and three in Bengkulu Utara. Another 32 people had slight injuries. Of the injured people, 20 were residents of Bengkulu city and 12 of Bengkulu Utara.