Indonesia earthquake: Heavy rain hampers search for survivors

Indonesian officials say heavy rain is hampering the search for survivors following a powerful earthquake on Sulawesi island on Friday.

The death toll has now risen to 73, including five members of one family.

Thousands of people left homeless are living in makeshift shelters, and there are fears of a Covid outbreak there.

In recent days Indonesia has endured deadly landslides, the loss of a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 with 62 people on board, and a volcanic eruption.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, and the country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. More than 2,000 people were killed in a quake in Sulawesi in 2018.

In 2004, a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra killed 226,000 people across the Indian Ocean, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.