JAKARTA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku on Thursday prolonged an emergency status for some areas after a 6.5-magnitude quake on Sept. 26, a move aiming at paving emergency relief works, a senior disaster agency official said.
Around 170,000 people are still taking shelters as the earthquake destroyed 6,355 houses and 512 public facilities, spokesman of national disaster management agency Agus Wibowo said.
The quake left 39 people dead and 1,578 others injured, the spokesman said.
"The districts of Maluku Tengah and Seram Bagian Barat extended an emergency status for seven days, starting from Oct. 10," he told Xinhua in a text message.
The spokesman said that the evacuees still badly need emergency relief aids after the quake devastated the province.
Among their dire needs are clean water, sanitation facilities, food and medical assistance, said Agus.
Over 1,000 aftershocks were detected after main shock by Thursday, according to the provincial disaster management agency.
Head of national disaster management agency Doni Monardo said that the government would give financial assistance for the repair of the damaged houses.
The financial assistance would reach 50 million rupiah (some 3,514 U.S. dollars) for each house, Doni said.
Besides, the houses situated in high-risk areas of natural disasters would be relocated to safer grounds and be rebuilt with construction resistant methods, he said.
