| Subject: Indonesia's earthquake toll 'might reach 2,000 |
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Betty
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Date Posted: 14:26:35 03/29/05 Tue
Rescuers began to reach a stricken island off western Sumatra on Tuesday as officials said the death toll from the biggest earthquake since the Asian tsunami might be as high as 2,000.
As survivors dug through debris in Indonesia, however, there were signs that lessons had been learnt from the tsunami of December 26. Governments around the Indian Ocean rapidly issued tidal wave alerts, in sharp contrast to three months ago.
People in coastal areas of India, Sri Lanka and Thailand dashed for higher ground within minutes, aided by quick reaction from officials and local media. In Indonesia, where the official warning took longer, the streets of Aceh, the province most devasted in December, were filled with traffic heading away from the water.
“We don't have a technologically advanced early warning system installed yet,” said a spokesman for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president. “What we have now is a community response. . . When an earthquake is big then go to higher ground.”
The 8.7 magnitude undersea quake, which hit northern Sumatra, was along the same fault-line as the 9.0 quake that sent tsunamis across the Indian Ocean in December.
It was the eighth-strongest since 1900, according to the US Geological Survey.
Officials said the worst-hit area was Nias, an island off western Sumatra. More than 330 bodies were recovered on Tuesday. Jusuf Kalla, Indonesia's vice-president, said the death toll could reach 2,000. Television images of Nias's main town, Gunungsitoli, showed collapsed buildings and survivors walking around in a daze after a sleepless night.
Aid efforts were helped by the presence in nearby Aceh province of United Nations and other international aid agencies, and Mr Yudhoyono announced the deployment of navy ships, helicopters and aircraft to deliver additional help.
Australia, Japan and Singapore said they were also ready to redeploy troops to the area to help with the clean-up, while in Washington a State Department spokesman said nearby US embassies had been put “in battle mode” to respond to the disaster.
Oxfam, the UK-based relief agency, said an assessment team it sent to Nias found “major infrastructure damage”. Some 20,000 people in Gunungsitoli were without water, the agency said in a statement.
“The failure of the water system and the collapse of the roads here are major issues,” said team member Alessandra Villas-Boas in the statement. “Bodies are being pulled from the rubble as I speak.” Oxfam said it hoped to fly supplies to Nias from Wednesday. The earthquake contributed to a 2.7 per cent slump in the Jakarta Stock Exchange's main composite index. The Indonesian rupiah fell to its lowest level since April 2002, and yields on Indonesian 10-year bonds widened.
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