Indonesia Earthquake Death Toll Rises

Indonesia Earthquake Death Toll Rises
The death toll continues to rise from a strong earthquake that struck Indonesia early Wednesday.
Local officials said at least 97 people were dead and hundreds more injured in Pidie Jaya, the district closest to the quake's epicenter, on the northern end of Indonesia's Sumatra island. The town of Meureudu was among the hardest hit areas.
The shaking brought down dozens of buildings, including mosques, stores and homes. Rescue crews were searching through rubble for people who may be trapped underneath.
"The earthquake was felt strongly and many people panicked and rushed outdoors as houses collapsed," Sutopo Nugroho of the country's national disaster management agency said in a statement.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.5 quake was centered near the town of Reuleut. Indonesia's Climate, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the earthquake did not generate a tsunami.
Indonesia is located in an area of the world prone to earthquakes. A 2004 quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 in Indonesia and other countries.
The threat of a repeat of that disaster was on the minds of some of those who felt Wednesday's earthquake.

toll: suffering, deaths, or damage: 
rubble: the piles of broken stone and bricks, etc. that are left when a building falls down or is destroyed: 
be prone to sth: likely to suffer from an illness or show a particular negative characteristic:  

Trump: Japanese Firm to Invest $50 Billion, Add 50,000 Jobs in US
Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Group plans to invest $50 billion in the U.S. economy and add 50,000 jobs, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday.
Trump appeared in the lobby of the Trump Tower with Masayoshi Son, the chief executive of SoftBank, to announce the news, and later put it out on Twitter.
Later Tuesday at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump formally announced that he has chosen retired Marine General James "Mad Dog" Mattis for secretary of defense.
Mattis has served as the head of U.S. Central Command, which carries out U.S. operations in the Middle East, and the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces. He briefly addressed the crowd, thanking Trump for the nomination.
The retired general will need a congressional waiver in order to be confirmed as secretary of defense. Mattis would otherwise be ineligible to serve because of a law that requires a seven-year wait for former members of the military to serve in the post. He has been retired for less than four years.

lobby: the (large) room into which the main entrance door opens in a hotel or other large building
rally: a public meeting of a large group of people, especially supporters of a particular opinion: 
waiver: an agreement that you do not have to pay or obey something: