The Jakarta Post, June 06, 2006
Reporting from the quake zone
The deadly earthquake that hit Central Java and Yogyakarta on May 27 also affected
The Jakarta Post's journalists based in the quake-hit areas. Several of them share
their stories about that fateful morning.
Slamet Susanto, based in Yogyakarta: The earthquake woke me from a deep sleep
after a late night of watching Mt. Merapi. I rushed out of my boardinghouse in
Kaliurang and looked toward Merapi. The mountain was clear. It was not volcanic
activity.
Five minutes after the earthquake and all of the lines of communication were down. I
couldn't contact my family or neighbors. I left for my family's house in Bantul, still
trying to reach my family on the phone. I never imagined the extent of the damage I
would find.
It was very crowded when I reached Parangtritis. Everyone was heading north.
Thousands of people were in the road, making it hard even to walk. People were
screaming. "Kidul entek-entekan," (the south was destroyed) cried a woman wearing
a nightgown and no shoes.
I tried to console myself, repeatedly telling myself people were still traumatized by the
tsunami in Aceh. But I was starting to get worried because the road was not getting
any better and the sky above Bantul was dark.
When I got off the main road, trying to find an alternative route, I was shocked to
come upon a hamlet in Sewon where all of the houses were flattened.
There was an injured old man in front of me, asking for help. "If Sewon is like this,
what happened to my house, my family and my nieces," I thought.
It sometimes felt I lost my sense of humanity that morning. I headed back to the main
street, ignoring the cries for help. But back on the main road things were out of control
because of the tsunami rumor. I just wanted to get home. I cried, thinking of my
family. I pictured my village, only two kilometers from the beach, destroyed.
When I finally made it home I was relieved. My family was all there. My mother was
cooking in the field because she was too scared to go inside. I was happy my family
survived but sad that most of my hometown was devastated.
I fell to the ground to thank God, and then hugged my mother, father and my
five-year-old niece Finda. My brother and his wife, and my grandmother were all there.
The quake left cracks in our house and the kitchen collapsed, but my family was safe
and that's all that matters.
Blontank Poer, based in Surakarta, Central Java: The sky was still dark when my bed
started shaking and the glasses in the kitchen rattling. I saw the neighbors gathering
in front of their houses. I was sure the tremors came from Mt. Merapi. An elderly
official, Sunarto, said that from experience an eruption would occur about one hour
after an earthquake.
I ran for my camera and me and my wife headed for the Novotel Hotel. The foreign
guests in the eight-story building would be in a panic.
But there was no panic at the Novotel so I went to Karangnongko in Klaten, where my
wife's 90-year-old grandmother lives by herself, not far from Merapi's slopes. I was still
certain the earthquake was a warning before Merapi erupted.
I was wrong. As we approached Klaten, a friend told me the earthquake was centered
in the sea to the south. He said there was damage in southern Klaten, just like in
Bantul.
I went to Suradji Tirtonegoro Hospital in Klaten and found hundreds of people filling all
of the rooms and laid out on the ground outside the hospital. I started taking photos.
As I was busy taking pictures, my cousin Suhudi called out my name. "Are you
reporting? Mbakyu (Sister) Sri is injured, her right arm broken," he said. He took me
to her. Then Suhudi disappeared and I learned later that his wife, Titik Wuryani, had
been badly injured. She received a head injury and suffered a miscarriage when a
wooden frame collapsed on her.
I immediately informed my father, who cried. "A child of Mbakyu Harso also died when
her house and a neighbor's collapsed."
I felt weak. My relatives, all women, were victims of the quake. For a moment I could
not take any pictures. I just stood there among the victims.
Hyginus Hardoyo, based in Jakarta: When I heard about the earthquake that morning,
I was still in Jakarta and was unaware how powerful and devastating it was. Only
when I was unable to contact my family in Klaten and Yogyakarta did I realize
something very unusual had happened.
I managed to contact a friend of mine who works in Semarang but happened to be in
Yogyakarta that weekend. He told me the earthquake was powerful and that many
buildings had been destroyed. Based on local radio reports, he gave me the latest
developments on the quake.
In the afternoon I received information my mother's house had been damaged. Then I
was ordered to go to Yogyakarta to cover the disaster.
On the way to Yogyakarta, I was told by a relative in Medan, North Sumatra, who
managed to make contact with my family in Klaten, that despite the damaged house
everyone was safe.
I went directly to my mother's house in Kaporan hamlet in Wedi district the next
morning, after driving through the night. About two-thirds of the old house had been
damaged. I was happy to see that my mother, who lived with one of her grandchildren
and two great-grandchildren, was safe.
It was like a miracle; despite the damage my mother's house was about the only
building in the hamlet still at least partially intact. There were cracks in the walls, but
in general it was still safe to live in. Nearly all of the other 40 houses in the hamlet
were badly damaged, forcing residents to live in tents they erected next to their
houses or along the nearby road. At least one resident in the hamlet was killed by the
falling rubble and dozens of others were injured.
Residents of the hamlet did not receive much attention from the local administration or
big relief groups. The survivors sent a representative to queue for hours at the local
command post, only to get two packs of instant noodles. Relief started flowing in only
after residents contacted church organizations and relatives living in other cities.
I later found out why, immediately after the quake, I had not been able to contact even
relatives whose houses were not affected by the quake. When I phoned them, the
villages were empty because all of the residents had fled as a result of the rumor that
a tsunami was approaching.
Nearly everyone, the elderly, adults and children, were on the main road leading to
Surakarta, Central Java. Everyone was in a panic.
No one was thinking clearly; they were just trying to save themselves. Everyone was
terrified of the massive waves, so no one considered that it was complete nonsense.
Klaten is located more than 35 kilometers inland. The southern part the city is
protected by a mountain range. Any tsunami hitting Klaten would have to go through
Bantul first, before hitting Yogyakarta and then Klaten.
Only after running dozens of kilometers did people realize the tsunami was a hoax,
fanned by irresponsible people. Instances of theft happened everywhere. Motorcycles,
TVs and other belongings, especially cattle, went missing when all the villages were
left empty. Poor Klatenese.
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