"TNI must always be ready to help ease suffering of its people ..."
Meureudu (ANTARA News) - Some 300 military officers have been deployed to help clear debris of collapsed buildings in the districts of Pidie Jaya, Pidie, and Bireun in Aceh Province, following a strong quake that hit the province on Dec 7.

The military personnel together with local inhabitants helped carry out debris clear process, Commander of the 011 Lilawangsa Regional Military Command Colonel Inf. Agus Firman Yusmono, said here, Sunday.

They comprised officers from the Marine and Military Construction Battalion.

"This is part of our duty as TNI (Indonesian Defense Forces). TNI must always be ready to help ease suffering of its people, such as those hit by natural disaster like what happens now," he said.

Since the first day following the disaster, the TNI personnel have helped mitigate the quake.

In the meantime, some 500 police officers have also been deployed to Aceh Province to help evacuate earthquake victims in Pidie Jaya District.

Of the 500 personnel, 300 were from the Aceh Police Mobile Brigade, 120 from the Aceh Police Preventive Unit, 40 from Bireun Police Resort, and 40 from Aceh Besar Police resort, Senior Commissioner Martinus Sitompul, head of the General Information Department of the National Police, said recently.

The Aceh and North Sumatra Police have also sent paramedics and doctors to Pidie Jaya.

The national police, the Indonesian Defense Forces, and the Aceh Provincial Administration have also coordinated the establishment of a disaster management command post, he added.

The National Meteorological, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency reported that the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that rocked several districts in Aceh Province was triggered by the activity of a strike-slip fault.

As many as 103 people have lost their lives and some 800 have been injured in the disaster.

The earthquake, which destroyed several houses, school buildings, and places of worship, occurred at 5:03 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with its epicenter at 5.19 degrees northern latitude and 96.36 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometers on land, some 18 km northeast of Pidie Jaya, or 120 km of Banda Aceh.

(Reported by Mukhlis/Uu.F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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