"Based on the inventory result up to now, a total of 356 houses have cracks in walls, ceilings and floors," Deputy South Aceh District Head Daska Aziz said here on Wednesday.
Of the 356 affected houses, 59 were seriously damaged, he said.
The houses are located at Ladang Rimba, Gunung Kapur, Krueng Batee, Ie Jerneh, Cot Bayu, Lhok Raya, Naca and Gampong Teungoh villages.
Despite the damages, none of the local residents evacuated themselves to other places, Deska said.
Trumon Tengah Sub District Head Abdul Munir said the tremor also damaged two mosques and a bridge connecting Tapaktuan and Medan.
"The mosques located at Naca and Gampong Teungoh are seriously damaged. All of their walls have cracks, and the small mosque at Lhok Raya is lightly damaged," he said.
Trumon Tengah Sub District, Aceh Selatan District, is one of the quake affected area located in the border of Subulussalam and Aceh Singkil, which are around 600 km south of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Darussalam Province.
Meanwhile, an official of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the magnitude-6.7 earthquake that hit Aceh Province on Tuesday at 00.55.12 am local time, claimed two lives.
"Based on preliminary data that we have received, two people were killed and one person was slightly injured," BNPB Chief Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
The earthquake damaged one house of worship, a nurse academy building and three houses seriously, and 15 other houses lightly.
"Besides, 160 shops were gutted by fire due to short circuits," he said.
BNPB was now coordinating with the disaster mitigation agencies of North Sumatra and Aceh to assess the damages.
The Meulaboh meteorology, climatology and geophysics office`s head, Edi Darlupti, said earlier that the quake`s epicenter was located at 2.81 degrees northern latitude and 97.85 degrees eastern longitude, or 59 kilometers northeast of Singkil Baru, Aceh Province, and at a depth of 78 km on land.
(Uu.F001/HAJM/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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