The region was spared
from a new tsunami horror
The undersea quake that struck Monday night about 200 kilometers off the west coast of Sumatra prompted Indonesia,
India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, among others, to issue warnings of imminent tsunamis. The epicenter of the quake measuring 8.7 on
the Richter scale was just 200 miles (320 kilometers) from that of the December 26 quake.
Alerts rang out on television and radio, while police and local residents tried to shepherd people to safety away from
the coast towards high ground. But the giant tsunamis never materialized and three hours after the quake Indonesia and Thailand gave the
all-clear. Sri Lanka and India followed several hours later.
While the region was spared a new tsunami horror, the earthquake caused widespread destruction on Nias, an island of
700,000 people which is popular with surfers. The island's main town of Gunung Sitoli appeared to have been one of the worst hit areas.
In the latest aftershock, a magnitude 5.8 temblor hit off Indonesia's coast at 1:22 p.m. and was centered 217 miles
south-southeast of Banda Aceh, according to Hong Kong seismologists.
Dave Jenkins, a New Zealand physician who runs the relief agency SurfAid International in western Sumatra, said he
feared for about 10,000 people living on the tiny Banyak Islands, close to the epicenter of Monday's quake.
At least 430 reported dead in Indonesia
Indonesians searched through smoldering rubble for survivors on Nias island Tuesday and
relatives wept over the bodies of the dead after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake hammered the region, triggering a tsunami scare and killing at
least 330 people in the island. Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla told the BBC that reports indicated 1,000 to 2,000 people had died.
At least 430 people were confirmed dead. According to Budi Atmaji Adiputro, chief of staff at the National
Coordinating Disaster Relief Agency, 330 people had been found dead on the island and more bodies were expected to turn up under the
rubble of collapsed buildings. "I expect the number to increase because to collect bodies we have to sift through the rubble," he
told AFP.
The head of the health office in Sumatra's Aceh province, Mulya Hasjmy, told AFP that a disaster taskforce in Simeulue
had accounted for 100 dead. A military official said a three-meter wave had smashed into a port on Simeulue, causing extensive damage and
unconfirmed reports of casualties.
Some 20 people, mostly suffering from broken bones, deep cuts and bruises were flown from Nias aboard two UN
helicopters to the Sumatra island city of Sibolga, where they were transferred to a hospital.
U.N. and other relief agencies rushed to ferry aid supplies to the island, which bore the brunt of the quake almost
three months after an even bigger temblor nearby sent waves crashing into coastlines around the Indian Ocean's rim, killing at least 174,000
people.
In the latest aftershock, a magnitude 5.8 temblor hit off Indonesia's coast at 1:22 p.m. and was centered 217 miles
south-southeast of Banda Aceh, according to Hong Kong seismologists.
Dave Jenkins, a New Zealand physician who runs the relief agency SurfAid International in western Sumatra, said he
feared for about 10,000 people living on the tiny Banyak Islands, close to the epicenter of Monday's quake.
Taken by surprise...
"We had just ended the emergency relief in Aceh and Nias," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
said after an emergency cabinet meeting in Jakarta. "We were taken by surprise again by the earthquake in Nias and Simeulue."
Yudhoyono sent condolences to the families of the dead and postponed a planned visit Wednesday to Australia, saying he
would fly to Nias to assess the damage.
He said Indonesia had been offered help from around the world.
"We welcome and highly appreciate it," he said.
One of the century's top 10 most powerful earthquake
Kerry Sieh, a seismologist with the United States Geological Survey, said the quake was one of the top 10 most
powerful in the last century.
Tremors shook many parts of Sumatra for three minutes and rocked the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore
where people fled from high-rise buildings.
"When the earthquake happened, I rode my motorcycle to the airport because I was very afraid the tsunami would
hit again," said university student Heri in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's devastated Aceh province.
In northwestern Sri Lanka people ran to temples and churches where bells were rung to warn people to run to high
ground. In the resorts of southwest Thailand holidaymakers fled hotels as television flashed warnings.
Hundreds of people, with children yanked from their beds and still wearing pyjamas, gathered at the town hall on the
Thai resort island of Phuket.
In India's Tamil Nadu state radio stations warned people to move away from the ocean.
"People are very tense as they fear that another tsunami is going to hit our coasts. Many of our fishermen have
gone to the sea and we are praying for their safe return," Xavier Lawrence, a priest in the town of Kanyakumari, told reporters.
 Oxfam International sends damage assessment
team VIEW OXFAM SITE>>
Oxfam International sent an assessment team to Nias by helicopter from Banda Aceh in the tsunami-stricken province of
Aceh on Sumatra.
"The devastation is obvious as soon as you land," said Alessandra Villas-Boas, a member of the team, which
found widespread damage to houses and infrastructure.
"Bodies are being pulled from the rubble as I speak," she said, adding that the island's main town of Gunung
Sitoli appeared to have been one of the worst hit areas.
Some 20,000 people in the town were without water, the electricity grid was also out of order and roads were badly
damaged, the team said.
Alessandra Boas said the aid group was heading further afield by motorcycle.
"The devastation is obvious as soon as you land," she said. "Many of the houses here have collapsed,
but it's still too early for us to get a sense of the full scale of this."
Thousands of residents fled to the island's hills and remained there Tuesday.
Condolences and relief offers flooded in from overseas.
Singapore said it had dispatched military helicopters and a team of medical and rescue workers to Nias, while Japan
offered to send relief goods, paramedics and troops.
China announced it would donate 300,000 dollars to Indonesia.
Canberra promised one million dollars (774,000 US) in aid.
Japan and Australia offered to send troops to Nias to help with the cleanup if Jakarta asks.
U.S. officials also promised rapid assistance.
"We're applying what we've learned from the previous earthquake so that we can be prepared to be responsive
quickly and in a meaningful way," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday.
The quake damaged Gunung Sitoli's airstrip and prevented all but small planes from landing. The Indonesian military
flew reporters over the island to inspect the damage.
Fishing villages dotted along the coastline and inland appeared to be largely unaffected.
The International Organization for Migration said it was sending trucks loaded with water, milk and other food items,
as well as medical supplies to the Sumatran port town of Sibolga, where they will be ferried to Gunung Sitoli.
Survivors' tales
Survivors -- frail, weeping and swathed in bloody bandages -- described how they were trapped by falling rubble when
the giant tremor struck.
"I was fast asleep when the earthquake occurred but I woke up just in time to escape from the crumbling roof of
my dormitory," said 20-year-old student Serasi Hulu, who suffered a broken arm and fingers.
Pale, bruised and visibly weak from his ordeal, Hulu said he had tried to dash from his room but was pinned down by
falling masonry.
"Before I managed to get out of the house, part of the roof fell on me and I was trapped for several hours along
with two of my high school mates," he told AFP. "I believe they may already have died."
Bitter memories of the December disaster
The earthquake evoked bitter memories of the December disaster in which a 9.0-magnitude quake triggered waves 15
meters (50 feet) high that roared across the Indian Ocean at speeds of up to 700 kilometers per hour. The deadly tsunamis left more than
273,000 people dead, including over 220,000 in Indonesia, 30,000 in Sri Lanka, 10,000 in India and 5,000 in Thailand.
Coastal residents from Indonesia to Thailand to Sri Lanka fled to higher ground when the alarm was raised, before
hearing hours later that no tsunami materialized.
In Banda Aceh, the city in Indonesia's Aceh province that was hardest-hit by the tsunami, thousands poured into the
streets to flee.
"It was horrible, the only thing on my mind was how to get out of the house immediately and save my 3
1/2-month-old baby girl," said 27-year-old Marlina, who only uses one name, like many Indonesians.
In Sri Lanka, warning sirens blared along the nation's east coast and President Chandrika Kumaratunga urged people to
evacuate.
"It was like reliving the same horror of three months ago," said Fatheena Faleel, who fled her home with her
three children.
By dawn Tuesday, the danger had passed and all tsunami warnings had been withdrawn.
High-tech tsunami early warning system needed
Some 10 billion dollars in aid was pledged to affected countries, and governments promised to create a high-tech
tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean by mid-2006.
Although no formal warning system was yet in place, the Japan Meteorological Agency and the International Tsunami
Information Center contacted countries around the Indian Ocean immediately after detecting the huge quake.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the makeshift warning system had worked well. PLEASE READ
RELATED STORY>>
"Although our warning system is not yet complete, we managed to alert people in enough time for them to seek
safety," he said.
Guests and residents in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, where the earthquake was also felt, evacuated high-rise
hotels and apartments, reports said.
Tremors were also felt in Padang, the capital of neighboring Sumatra province, where it downed power lines, according
to local Metro TV. No telephone contact was immediately possible with Padang or another major city, Medan. |
DISASTER
ALERT!!!
