Traditional homes defy quake, modern constructions crumble
You could call it the tale of two houses: one, a seemingly rickety stilt structure built 80 years ago using no nails
stands defiantly upright, while next door, a six-year-old brick-and-cement home lies in a pile of rubble - sent crashing to the ground by
Monday's massive earthquake.
The earthquake destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings across Indonesia's Nias Island, but cheap, brick houses
were worst hit.
Architects and local authorities will use lessons learned from villages such as Tumori when they begin rebuilding the
island. Indonesia straddles one of the world's most seismologically active regions, but Nias and other western areas are especially prone to
earthquakes.
No one was killed or seriously injured by the quake in Tumori, but most families continue to sleep outside in fear of
aftershocks. The tremor has also crippled commerce on the island, meaning there are no buyers for the rubber the villagers tap or the
vegetables they grow.
The village, a short drive inland from the worst hit city of Gunung Sitoli, shows the strength of traditional building
techniques. Most of its 220 homes were built early last century, making them some of the oldest structures on the island.
A typical house is about 20 meters (66 feet) long by 10 meters (33 feet) wide, and stands on crisscrossed stilts as
thick as a man's thigh. Dozens of heavy stones are stacked in wooden cradle-like structures underneath to keep them stable during
earthquakes and high winds.
The front door, located at the end of the house, opens into a large communal living room, which has several other
small rooms branching off on either side. Thatched palm leaves make up the roof. Unlike similar dwellings elsewhere in Asia, the intricately
carved houses in Tumori are normally home to a single family.
"They move when the earth moves," said Melke, his teeth stained bright red from chewing betel nut.
"They have a flexibility that modern houses lack."
Nearly all traditional houses in the village were left standing and remain habitable. Some suffered damage to their
roofs and walls, but they appear to be structurally sound.
But the owners are now facing a new problem - all the craftsmen able to repair their traditional homes have died. But
they say leaving the houses to fall into disrepair, or knocking them down to build a modern dwelling in their place, could bring bad luck.
"Something bad would happen," said one owner, Alui Harefa. "The homes have special powers. We will have
to learn to repair them ourselves."
The effect the earthquake had on poorly constructed houses is clear in Dahana Tabaloho, the next village from Tumori.
The temblor there destroyed two rows of cheap government built homes. None of the residents were insured in the event of an earthquake. |
A
tale of two houses
