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Indonesian Rescuers Search for Earthquake Survivors


Indonesian rescue teams are searching for victims buried under the rubble of buildings that collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 52 people on Sumatra island.

Earlier reports said 70 people had died in the disaster, but officials said Wednesday, that some of the victims had been counted twice.

Hospitals and other medical facilities are overwhelmed by hundreds of people injured in Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake and equally strong aftershock.

The earthquakes struck about 50 kilometers from West Sumatra's provincial capital, Padang.

Many people headed to higher ground, fearing a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 230,000 people across the region. However, no tsunami followed Tuesday's quake.

Hundreds of survivors are spending the night in schools, mosques and tents.

The quake was felt hundreds of kilometers away in Malaysia and prompted the evacuation of several buildings in Singapore.

Indonesia is made up of about 17,000 islands and sits on what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines along the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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