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A strong, shallow earthquake shook Indonesia's Sulawesi island just after midnight Friday, toppling homes and buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least 42 people.

More than 600 people were injured during the magnitude 6.2 quake, which sent people fleeing their homes in the darkness. Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.

There were reports of many people trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes and buildings.

In a video released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, a girl stuck in the wreckage of a house cried out for help and said she heard the sound of other family members also trapped. "Please help me, it hurts," the girl told rescuers, who replied that they desperately wanted to help her.

The rescuers said an excavator was needed to save the girl and others trapped in collapsed buildings. Other images showed a severed bridge and damaged and flattened houses.

The earthquake damaged part of a hospital and patients were moved to an emergency tent outside. Rescuers struggled to extract seven patients and staff who were trapped under tons of rubble. After several hours, an excavator came to help and the rescuers eventually retrieved four survivors and three bodies.

Another video showed a father crying, asking for help to save his children buried under their toppled house. "They are trapped inside, please help," he cried.

Thousands of displaced people were evacuated to temporary shelters.

The quake was centred 36 kilometres south of West Sulawesi province's Mamuju district, at a depth of 18 kilometres, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The Indonesian disaster agency said the death toll climbed to 34 as rescuers in Mamuju retrieved 26 bodies trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes and buildings.

The agency said in a statement that eight people were killed and 637 others were injured in Mamuju's neighboring district of Majene.

It said at least 300 houses and a health clinic were damaged and about 15,000 people were being housed in temporary shelters in the district. Power and phones were down in many areas.

West Sulawesi Administration Secretary Muhammad Idris told TVOne that the governor's office building was among those that collapsed in Mamuju, the provincial capital, and many people there remain trapped.

Rescuer Saidar Rahmanjaya said a lack of heavy equipment was hampering the operation to clear the rubble from collapsed houses and buildings. He said his team was working to save 20 people trapped in eight buildings, including in the governor's office, a hospital and hotels.

https://twitter.com/USGS_Quakes/status/1349908547497168899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"We are racing against time to rescue them," Rahmanjaya said.

Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull a body of a loved one from a damaged home in devastated Mamuju. It was placed in an orange body bag and taken away for burial.

"Oh my God, why did we have to go through this?" cried Rina, who uses one name. "I can't save my dear sister … forgive me, sister, forgive us, God!"

President Joko Widodo said in a televised address that he had ordered his social minister and the chiefs of the military, police and disaster agency to carry out emergency response measures and search and rescue operations as quickly as possible.

"I, on behalf of the Government and all Indonesian people, would like to express my deep condolences to families of the victims," Widodo said.

Two ships were heading to the affected areas from Makassar and Balikpapan carrying rescuers and search and rescue equipment, while a Hercules plane carrying supplies was on its way from Jakarta.

Among dead in Majene were three people killed when their homes were flattened by the quake while they were sleeping, said Sirajuddin, the district's disaster agency chief.

Sirajuddin, who goes by one name, said although the inland earthquake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami, people along coastal areas ran to higher ground in fear one might occur.

Landslides were set off in three locations and blocked a main road connecting Mamuju to the Majene district, said Raditya Jati, the disaster agency's spokesperson.

On Thursday, a magnitude 5.9 undersea quake hit the same region, damaging several homes but causing no apparent casualties.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 260 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Palu on Sulawesi island set off a tsunami and caused soil to collapse in a phenomenon called liquefaction. More than 4,000 people died, many of the victims buried when whole neighborhoods were swallowed in the falling ground.

A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labelled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

In a nationally televised speech, Rutte said he had informed King Willem-Alexander of his decision and pledged that his government would continue work to compensate affected parents as quickly as possible and to battle the coronavirus.

"We are of one mind that if the whole system has failed, we all must take responsibility, and that has led to the conclusion that I have just offered the king, the resignation of the entire Cabinet," Rutte said.

Not long after delivering his statement, Rutte got on his bicycle and rode to the king's palace in a forest in The Hague to formally inform the king. Dutch television showed him parking his bike at the bottom of steps leading into the palace and walking inside.

The move was seen as largely symbolic; Rutte's government will remain in office in a caretaker mode until a new coalition is formed after a March 17 election in the Netherlands.

The resignation brings to an end a decade in office for Rutte, although his party is expected to win the election, putting him first in line to begin talks to form the next government. If he succeeds in forming a new coalition, Rutte would most likely again become prime minister.

Geert Wilders, leader of the largest opposition party in the Dutch parliament said it was the right decision for the government to quit.

"Innocent people have been criminalised, their lives destroyed and parliament was informed about it inaccurately and incompletely," he tweeted.

The Netherlands is the third European country thrown into political uncertainty this week in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. In Estonia, the government resigned over a corruption scandal, while Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte's governing coalition is at risk of collapse after a small partner party withdrew its support.

Rutte said earlier this week that his government would be able to keep taking tough policy decisions in the battle against the coronavirus even if it were in caretaker mode.

The Netherlands is in a tough lockdown until at least February 9, and the government is considering imposing an overnight curfew amid fears about new, more contagious variants of the virus.

"To the Netherlands I say: Our struggle against the coronavirus will continue," Rutte said.

Jesse Klaver, the leader of one opposition party, told national broadcaster NOS he would continue to support the government in its coronavirus campaign.

On Thursday, the leader of the opposition Labor Party stepped down because he was minister of social affairs in a coalition led by Rutte when the country's tax office implemented a tough policy of tracking down fraud with child welfare.

A sitting minister, Eric Wiebes, who also was linked to the scandal, said Friday he was resigning with immediate effect and would not be part of the caretaker administration.

At Friday's Cabinet meeting, ministers decided their reaction to a scathing parliamentary report issued last month, titled "Unprecedented Injustice," that said the tax office policies violated "fundamental principles of the rule of law." The report also criticised the government for the way it provided information to parliament about the scandal.

Many wrongfully accused parents were plunged into debt when tax officials demanded repayment of payments. The government has in the past apologised for the tax office's methods and in March earmarked €500 million ($784 million) to compensate more than 20,000 parents.

In a written reaction, the government pledged to reform the welfare system as a result of the scandal and to quickly pay affected parents €30,000 ($47K) and expand existing compensation schemes.

"Everything is aimed at offering the parents and their children a new start in life," the government said.

One of the parents waited near parliament as the Cabinet met and said she wanted it to resign.

"It's important for me because it is the government acknowledging, 'We have made a mistake and we are taking responsibility,' because it's quite something what happened to us," Janet Ramesar told The Associated Press.

Rutte plans to lead his conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy into the March election, and polls suggest it will win the most seats. That would put Rutte, who has been in office for a decade at the head of three different coalitions, first in line to attempt to form the next ruling coalition.

But he said that it was up to voters at the election to decide on his future, noting that he took ultimate responsibility for failings within his government.

"The buck stops here," he said.

Emirates have confirmed the suspension of many of their international flights into and out of Australia.

The Dubai-based carrier announced flights to and from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne will stop "until further notice" citing "operational reasons".

Although, their twice-a-week services to Perth will remain in operation.

The airline has advised their last flights in and out of each city are as follows:

• Dubai-Brisbane (EK430), January 16
• Brisbane-Dubai (EK431), January 17
• Dubai-Sydney (EK414), January 18
• Sydney-Dubai (EK415), January 19
• Dubai-Melbourne (EK408), January 19
• Melbourne-Dubai (EK409), January 20

Emirates advises those with tickets to the affected destinations contact their travel agent or the airline.

"Customers holding tickets with final destinations Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin after the completion of the above flights," the airline said in a statement on their website.

"Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused. Affected customers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options."

"Australia remains an important market for Emirates," a spokesperson for the airline told Executive Traveller.

"We continue to serve Perth with twice-weekly flights and we are working hard to prepare for resumption of services to our other points."

It adds further stress on the 37,000 Aussies stranded overseas and desperate to get home.

The Australian High Commission in the UK told followers on Twitter: "We are aware @emirates will, due to operational reasons, suspend flights to/from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne until further notice by Tuesday 19 January.

"We appreciate the disruption this will cause, further updates to follow as we have them."

https://twitter.com/AusHouseLondon/status/1350056381634629636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

It comes as Australia's international arrival caps are slashed by almost half from today.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the changes following last week's National Cabinet meeting.

Mr Morrison said there will be reduced caps on international travellers entering Australia.These are as follows:

• NSW – 1505 travellers a week
• Western Australia – 512 travellers a week
• Queensland – 500 travellers a week
• Victoria – no change
• South Australia – no change (currently 490)

"That will be reviewed now by 15 February, not under the arrangement we previously had, which was at the end of this month," the prime minister said.

https://twitter.com/Smartraveller/status/1349983598221279232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Passengers and crews are also now required to wear masks throughout all domestic flights and inside airports.

And from January 22, travellers will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test from no-more than the 72 hours prior to boarding.

While international air crews must undergo a COVID-19 test in Australia every seven days, and will have their own specialist quarantine location, and are not allowed to move around.

The rehearsal for the inauguration ceremony will be delayed a day amid heightened security concerns, acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told CNN Friday morning.

"It is going to take place on Monday, is the current schedule. Secret Service is in charge of running that schedule, but that's done in partnership with Biden team, and it was their decision to delay a day," Cuccinelli told CNN's John Berman on New Day.

Cuccinelli cited "online chatter" about Sunday, but said there are "no specific credible threats."

RELATED: Washington DC locks down one week before Biden's inauguration amid safety concerns

"The decision was made to delay a day and leave the Secret Service in a position, and the whole team across the Washington metro area, to be prepared to respond on that day if needed," he said.

Law enforcement officials have warned that domestic extremists are likely more emboldened to carry out attacks on the inauguration, which takes place next Wednesday, and throughout 2021 after seeing the success of last week's siege on the US Capitol.

"We certainly agree there's a good deal of online chatter. It isn't just about Washington, by the way. There's also conversations about state capitols but very unspecific," Cuccinelli said, citing a briefing with state and local law enforcement earlier in the week along with FBI Director Chris Wray.

"It's that higher level of tension that we focus on."

Cuccinelli said a decision to raise the nation's terrorism threat level has not been made. CNN reported earlier this week that it had been discussed among officials.

In Washington, federal and local officials are taking extraordinary steps to bolster security.

The National Mall will be closed to the general public on Inauguration Day, an official familiar with discussions has told CNN, and President-elect Joe Biden will no longer take an Amtrak train to Washington next week as previously planned.

Divers found parts of the cockpit voice recorder on Friday as more personnel joined the search for wreckage and victims from an Indonesian plane that crashed last weekend in the Java Sea with 62 people on board.

The aerial search for the crashed Sriwijaya Air jet was being expanded as well, said National Search and Rescue Agency mission coordinator Rasman, who uses one name.

More than 4,000 search and rescue personnel are supported by 14 airplanes, 62 ships and 21 inflatable boats. They are using an underwater metal detector and remotely operated vehicle to search for human remains, the cockpit voice recorder and more wreckage.

Divers narrowed the search for the cockpit voice recorder after finding some of its parts.

"We have found the casing, the beacon and the CVR batteries. We need to search for the memory unit," the commander of the navy's First Fleet Command, Abdul Rasyid, said Friday.

"We hope it will be not far from them," he said.

RELATED: Black box recovered from missing Indonesia flight SJ182

Investigators have downloaded information from the plane's flight data recorder, which was recovered earlier this week.

"There are 330 parameters and everything is in good condition. We are learning about it now," said Soerjanto Tjahjono, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee.

Families of those on board have been providing DNA samples to help identify them. National Police spokesperson Rusdi Hartono said 12 of the 62 victims had been identified as of Thursday, including a flight attendant and an off-duty pilot.

The committee has said the crew did not declare an emergency or report any technical problems before the plane plunged into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta in heavy rain. They said it broke apart upon impact with the water, ruling out a midair explosion, because the debris field is concentrated and engine parts indicate it was running until impact.

The 26-year-old Boeing 737-500 was out of service for almost nine months last year because of flight cutbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The airline and Indonesian officials say it underwent inspections, including for possible engine corrosion that could have developed during the layoff, before it resumed commercial flying in December.

Indonesia's aviation industry grew quickly after the nation's economy was opened following the fall of dictator Suharto in the late 1990s. Safety concerns led the United States and the European Union to ban Indonesian carriers for years, but the bans have since been lifted due to better compliance with international aviation standards.

A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the annual Lunar New Year travel rush.

State media on Friday showed crews levelling earth, pouring concrete and assembling prefabricated rooms in farmland in an outlying part of Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei province, which has seen the bulk of the new cases.

That recalled scenes from early last year, when China rapidly built field hospitals and turned gymnasiums into isolation centres to cope with a then-spiraling outbreak in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019.

The spike in northern China comes as a World Health Organisation team prepares to collect data on the origin of the pandemic in Wuhan, which lies to the south. The international team, most of which arrived Thursday, must undergo two weeks of quarantine before it can begin field visits.

RELATED: Australian scientist in Wuhan investigating origins of coronavirus

Two of the 15 members were held up in Singapore over their health status. One, a British national, was approved for travel Friday after testing negative for the coronavirus, while the second, a Sudanese citizen from Qatar, again tested positive, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

China has largely contained domestic spread of the virus, but the recent spike has raised concern due to the proximity to the capital, Beijing, and the impending rush of people planning to travel large distances to rejoin their families for the Lunar New Year, the country's most important traditional festival.

The National Health Commission said Friday that 1,001 patients were under care for the disease, 26 in serious condition. It said 144 new cases were recorded over the past 24 hours. Hebei accounted for 90 of the new cases, while Heilongjiang province farther north reported 43.

Local transmissions also occurred in the southern Guangxi region and the northern province of Shaanxi, illustrating the virus's ability to move through the vast country of 1.4 billion people despite quarantines, travel restrictions and electronic monitoring.

To date, China has reported 87,988 confirmed cases with 4,635 deaths.

Shijiazhuang has been placed under virtual lockdown, along with the Hebei cities of Xingtai and Langfang, parts of Beijing and other cities in the northeast. That has cut off travel routes, while more than 20 million people have been told to stay home for the coming days.

China is pushing ahead with inoculations using Chinese-developed vaccines, with more than 9 million people already vaccinated and plans for 50 million to have shots by the middle of next month.

About 4,000 doses are delivered daily to the Chaoyang Planning Art Museum, one of more than 240 sites across Beijing where the first of two doses was being given Friday to high-risk groups, including medical, delivery and transportation workers.

The vaccine, produced by a Beijing subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm, is the first approved for general use in China.

"Being vaccinated is not only to protect myself but also to protect people around me," Ding Jianguang, a social worker who received her first shot earlier this month, told foreign journalists on a government-organised visit to the site.

Former World Health Organisation official Keiji Fukuda, who is not part of the team in Wuhan, cautioned against expectations of any breakthroughs from the visit, saying that it may take years before any firm conclusions can be made on the virus's origin.

"China is going to want to come out avoiding blame, perhaps shifting the narrative. They want to come across as being competent and transparent," he told The Associated Press in a video interview from Hong Kong.

For its part, WHO wants to project the image that it is "taking, exerting leadership, taking and doing things in a timely way," he said.

Scientists suspect the virus that has killed more than 1.9 million people globally since late 2019 jumped to humans from bats or other animals, possibly in southwest China.

China approved the World Health Organisation visit only after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the head of WHO.

The delay, along with the ruling Communist Party's tight control of information and promotion of theories the pandemic began elsewhere, added to speculation that China is seeking to prevent discoveries that chisel away at its self-proclaimed status as a leader in the battle against the virus.

In Wuhan, street life appeared little different from other Chinese cities where the virus has been largely brought under control.

Senior citizens gathered to drink and dance in a riverside park Friday, and residents had praise overall for the government's response to the crisis.

In other countries, "people go out arbitrarily, and they hang out and gather together, so it's especially easy for them to be infected," Xiang Nan said.

"I hope they can stay home, and reduce travelling. … Don't let the pandemic spread further anymore."