\n<\/p>\n
SIKKA: A paralysed 84-year-old woman has been found alive three days after a strong earthquake flattened her home on an Indonesian island, an official said Wednesday, as the death toll rose to 73.<\/strong><\/p>\n More than 900 people were injured and nearly 60,000 displaced by the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck off Indonesia\u2019s Flores island on Saturday, according to the BNPB disaster mitigation agency.<\/p>\n Paulina Pobi\u2019s house on a small island north of Flores was one of hundreds knocked down by the earthquake, with the 84-year-old buried alive under collapsed bamboo walls.<\/p>\n She had remained there until her family, who initially thought she had been rescued and taken to a shelter, returned to look for her on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause she was paralysed, she couldn\u2019t move or speak, so it wasn\u2019t until the fourth day that her family finally found her,\u201d local official Rudolfus Riba told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is in good health; there were no injuries at all. She was just a bit weak because she hadn\u2019 t eaten or drunk anything for days,\u201d Rudolfus said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels unreal, almost like a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 3,000 aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday, at least 86 of them strong enough to be felt by residents, according to the BMKG geological agency.<\/p>\n The tremors have made many too afraid to return to their damaged homes.<\/p>\n The BNPB said nearly 400 tonnes of aid, including food, water and medicines, have been delivered since Saturday.<\/p>\n Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes because it lies on the Pacific \u201cRing of Fire\u201d, a zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n In 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed about 220,000 people across the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n