The Latest: Thousands deployed in quake rescue effort
MEUREUDU, Indonesia — The Latest on a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in Indonesia’s Aceh province (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says several thousand rescuers are being deployed to quake hit areas in Aceh including hundreds of soldiers.
He told a press conference that 148 million Indonesians, or more than half its population, live in quake-prone areas.
Separately, the International Organization for Migration says it has sent a two-person assessment team to quake hit areas of Aceh.