PADANG, Indonesia – At least four Indonesian villages were obliterated by earthquake-triggered landslides that buried as many as 644 people including a wedding party under mountains of mud and debris, officials said Saturday.
- The full extent of Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake was becoming apparent three days later as aid workers and government officials reached remote villages in the hills along Sumatra island's western coast.
- If all 644 are confirmed dead (as is likely )the death toll in the disaster would jump to more than 1,300. The government's death toll currently is 715, with most casualties reported from the region's biggest city, Padang, where aid efforts are currently focused.
- More than 3,000 people were listed as missing before the news about the obliterated villages emerged.
- The United Nations said in a report that more than 1.1 million people live in the 10 quake-hit districts. It said 10,000 houses collapsed, 19 public facilities were badly damaged, 50 schools destroyed and more than 80 mosques severely damaged.
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