The Indonesian city of Padang was in chaos on Thursday — fires burning, sirens blaring, dazed residents wandering the streets, thousands of people reportedly trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings — after a powerful earthquake struck the island of Sumatra.
The quake, which hit Wednesday evening just off Padang with a magnitude of 7.6, has killed at least 464 people, according to a statement from the Social Affairs Ministry. The death toll was almost certain to rise, officials said, as rescuers dig into collapsed homes, hospitals, offices and a school.
On Thursday morning, just as the airport was reopening and rescue teams were setting to their heavy, horrible work, the city was rattled by another quake, this one registering 6.6.
The epicenter was 140 miles southeast of the Padang quake, according to the United States Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center quickly issued a bulletin saying that the quake had struck “too far inland to generate a destructive tsunami in the Indian Ocean.”
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