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since Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:04:17.
3 October 2009
In most places only bodies were found by rescue teams combing through collapsed buildings for thousands of people still feared trapped beneath the wreckage. The colossal damage that destroyed buildings and roads was hampering the aid effort.
In remoter areas outside Padang the full scale of the disaster was only starting to become clear, with TV footage showing villages obliterated by landslides, and survivors drinking coconut water after their drinking sources were contaminated.
“We have not received a thing. We need food, clothes, blankets, milk. It seems like the government has forgotten about us,” said Siti Armaini, sitting outside her collapsed home in Pariaman, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Padang and nearer to the quake’s epicentre.
In Padang, eight people were believed to be trapped in the ruins of the Dutch-colonial era Ambacang Hotel, once a prominent landmark in this university town of 900,000 famous across Indonesia for its spicy cuisine and buildings with dramatic curved roofs, influenced by the ethnic Minang group.
International rescue teams, including sniffer dogs from Japan and an orange-clad Swiss team, were helping in the effort.
“We think there are eight people alive in there. One sent an SMS to a relative in a village, who got the text at 3 p.m. yesterday,” said Arkamelvi Karmani, an Indonesian army officer involved in the rescue operation at the site of the hotel.
The message called for help and implored rescuers: “Be careful that the excavator doesn’t cause the building to collapse on us.”
Those trapped were believed to be on the 6th floor. Rescuers were building a tunnel into the rubble to try to reach them.
“We think there are 40 bodies left in the hotel,” Karmani said. A seminar organised by an insurance company was taking place there when the 7.6 magnitude quake hit on Wednesday.
The quake from one of the world’s most active seismic fault lines along the Pacific “Rim of Fire” struck with a force that shook buildings hundreds of kms away in Singapore and Malaysia.
Masks, Sniffer Dogs
The international aid effort was cranking up on Saturday and an Australian naval vessel set sail for Sumatra equipped with a mobile 40-bed hospital with surgical facilities, and Sea King helicopters, the country’s defence ministry said.
Testos, an Indonesian Red Cross worker at an aid station in central Padang, said they now had around half what was needed.
“We also need drinking water and clothes because many peoples clothes were burnt in fires,” he said. “We also need medicines to stop infection.”
The United Nations estimated more than 1,000 had been killed in and around Padang. Indonesia’s disaster management agency put the toll of confirmed dead and missing so far at 806.
Rescue teams, many wearing masks to cover the stench of bodies as they worked in the tropical heat, were fanning out from Padang to some of the worst-hit surrounding areas.
On the route to Pariaman devastation became steadily worse.
Roofs of collapsed houses are now flush to the ground, while families shelter in makeshift tents made of blankets next to the road, which has giant cracks in places.
Schools and mosques in this staunchly Muslim area have also collapsed and girls wearing head scarves joined other villagers holding out donation buckets to passing cars.
Asked about rescue efforts in Pariaman, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said bluntly it was now about retrieving bodies.
“We can be sure that they are dead. So now we are waiting for burials,” he said in footage shown on Metro TV.
Indonesia’s health minister Siti Fadillah Supari predicted on Friday the number killed would be in the low thousands.
“I predict the number will not reach 4,000,” she was quoted as saying by news website detik.com.
The three provinces affected by Wednesday’s disaster, and a second quake inland on Thursday, are major producers of rubber, palm oil, coal and other commodities, although together they accounted for less than 3 percent of Indonesia’s overall GDP, according to a report by Bank Danamon in Jakarta.
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3 October 2009
‘More or less, there are 600 missing. We’ve only found three dead,’ local health ministry crisis centre chief Jasmarizal told AFP of the landslides, which occurred after Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude quake on Sumatra island.
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The following article contains videoclips that may be viewed by clicking the title.
Islamic Relief teams have already been deployed and will be assessing the needs of victims after multiple earthquakes rocked the Pacific Rim region over the past few days.
On September 29, an 8.3 magnitude quake struck Samoa, generating waves as high as 15ft in some areas and leaving at least 149 people dead and tens of thousands in need.
The Samoan Prime Minister told the BBC "the devastation caused was complete."
The very next day, at least another 2,000 people were badly injured and another 528 killed after a pair of earthquakes, the first a 7.6 magnitude and the second a 6.2 magnitude, struck off the coast of Padang in Indonesia, according to Indonesian national news figures.
Some news stations are reporting casualties as high as 1,000 people.
There are reports of widespread destruction to buildings, roads and bridges; several subsequent landslides; and fires have been reported around Padang city, including one which caused severe damage to the local market.
Many victims are in desperate need of medical attention and humanitarian aid.
You can make a difference! Donate today to support Islamic Relief's efforts.
Islamic Relief's Response
Islamic Relief USA has launched an emergency fundraising appeal in response and is teaming with local organizations to maximize the reach of concerned American communities.
Dubbing the appeal the "Pacific Earthquake Emergency," Islamic Relief USA will be aiding victims in both American Samoa and Indonesia.
Concerned Americans are urged to donate to Islamic Relief USA's "Natural Disasters Fund," by visiting Islamic Relief USA's website (www.IslamicReliefUSA.org) or calling (888) 479 - 4968.
In American Samoa, Islamic Relief is teaming with partner organizations in the field to distribute aid in an efficient and effective manner.
With many development projects and more than 80 staff members already in Indonesia, Islamic Relief plans to support 2,000 households in the next few days and has already deployed an emergency team by road that is scheduled to arrive in one of the most affected regions, Padang, tomorrow.
Islamic Relief is also in constant contact with United Nations agencies, and members of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene cluster. Islamic Relief is currently preparing to provide the following aid from the stocks available:
-150 tents
-One water purifier machine to produce 5,000 liters per hour
-Two generators
-7 vehicles; 30 motorcycles
You can help support a displaced family with food and shelter. Please donate today.
Islamic Relief in the Pacific Rim
This is not the first time Islamic Relief responds to an emergency in Indonesia.
In 2006, Islamic Relief responded again to the Java earthquake, distributing necessary food items to 17 sub-districts in just four hours after the quake hit.
Islamic Relief began working in Indonesia in 2000 and registered its field office there in 2003 to implement development projects. In 2004, Islamic Relief spearheaded a large-scale emergency response to the devastating tsunami, distributing food, tents and hygiene supplies to hundreds of survivors.
In 2008 and 2009, Islamic Relief Indonesia implemented a water and sanitation project in Padang District drilling 22 wells and training local community members in water supply systems.
DONATE NOW
http://www.islamicreliefusa.org/
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