Earthquake on Indonesia’s 80th Independence Day Injures Dozens, Damaging Church in Sulawesi (Video)

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

PALU, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – Christian worshipers ran for their lives as a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck during Indonesia’s 80th Independence Day celebrations on Sunday, injuring dozens in Central Sulawesi, Worthy News learned.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced that at least 32 people were injured—including several in critical condition—after the quake hit the province on the country’s Sulawesi island.

Witnesses said the quake, which struck the Poso Regency at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.21 miles), was felt in neighboring areas. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed there were at least 15 aftershocks following the initial tremor.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

Emergency responders, however, reported structural damage to the Elim Congregation Church in Masani Village.

CHURCH PANIC

Worthy News obtained video footage showing a church choir singing moments before the quake hit, prompting worshipers to flee.

Christians could be heard shouting and crying as the quake’s impact became clear.

Most of the injured were members of the congregation attending Sunday morning service, confirmed BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

“Amateur videos showing structural damage to the church have been circulating. The Poso Disaster Mitigation Agency continues to conduct rapid assessments in the field to determine the initial impact of the earthquake,” Muhari added.

Many of those injured were taken to nearby medical facilities, including Poso Regional Hospital and the Tokorondo Community Health Center, officials said.

CHRISTIANS SHAKEN

The church’s destruction came as a shock to the Christian community, which forms a majority in the quake-stricken Poso Regency.

Christians—mostly Protestants with a smaller Catholic minority—make up more than 60 percent of Poso’s roughly 250,000 people, according to data obtained by Worthy News.

The region is an exception in Central Sulawesi, where the population of about 3.1 million is predominantly Muslim, with Christians comprising only around 10 percent.

Sunday’s quake interrupted prayers and ceremonies marking the day when Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands exactly 80 years earlier, on August 17, 1945, in Jakarta.

That declaration sparked the Indonesian National Revolution, a bloody conflict against Dutch forces and pro-Dutch civilians. The Netherlands eventually recognized Indonesia’s independence in 1949 after fighting that killed more than 100,000 people—mostly Indonesians—along with Dutch troops and citizens of other nations.

RING OF FIRE

Since independence, Indonesia’s population has grown from nearly 70 million to around 286 million today, increasing the challenges of disaster preparedness.

The country lies at the heart of the “Ring of Fire”—a horseshoe-shaped zone encircling the Pacific Ocean, known for frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.

In 2022, a magnitude 5.6 quake killed at least 602 people in West Java’s Cianjur city, the deadliest since a 2018 Sulawesi quake and tsunami claimed more than 4,300 lives.

In 2004, a massive Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people across a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

With Indonesia being one of the most seismically and volcanically active countries globally, authorities face renewed pressure to improve early warning systems nationwide.

Sunday’s earthquake in Central Sulawesi was not the only disaster overshadowing Independence Day. The BNPB also reported a massive fire destroying a 2-hectare palm plantation in North Padang Lawas Regency of North Sumatra Province and landslides in Ambon City in Maluku Province. No casualties were reported in either case, but both incidents further dampened Independence Day observances.

(With additional reporting from Worthy News sources in Indonesia.)

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