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Massive aftershocks hit Sumatra
13/09/2007 08:21 - (SA)
Padang - Indonesia's Sumatra
island was pounded by aftershocks on Thursday after the world's
most powerful earthquake so far this year killed at least six
people and buried many more under buildings.
Tsunami warnings were repeatedly issued and lifted for
Indian Ocean rim countries after the latest tremors, which the
US Geological Survey (USGS) said took to a total of 19 -
ranging from magnitudes of 4.9 to 8.4 - over the past 18
hours.
"We can expect aftershocks to continue for some time," USGS
Geophysicist Dale Grant told Reuters.
The mayor of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, said many
people were trapped under collapsed buildings, and there were
also reports of hundreds injured in Bengkulu to the south.
Padang was thrown into chaos after the initial
8.4-magnitude quake on Wednesday night, the strongest recorded
across the globe this year, and many people fled in terror as
daylight brought more tremors. Huge traffic jams were reported
in the city.
"My family and neighbours are evacuating to higher ground.
Everyone in the place where I live decided to evacuate," said
35-year-old Padang resident Eri Kamra. "I saw buildings
collapse and one person lost consciousness after the morning
quake."
A Reuters witness said that a four-storey car showroom had
collapsed, trapping several staff.
Part of Padang's main hospital also collapsed, and some
injured people had to be moved out of wards to the relative
safety of tents.
"Many are still trapped underneath the rubble from last
night's quake," Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar told Reuters.
Deeply concerned
Officials were also deeply concerned about the situation in
Bengkulu, a coastal city of about 300 00 people and the
closest major town to the epicentre of Wednesday's huge quake.
Metro TV reported hundreds hurt there, though it was not
possible to verify this as communications to the area were cut.
"The North Bengkulu area has been identified as the worst
hit with half the area destroyed," said Rustam Pakaya, head of
the health ministry's crisis centre in Jakarta. "Many
hospitals, houses, government buildings and clinics have been
destroyed."
The crisis centre's latest casualty figures showed that six
people had been killed and 40 injured by the quakes, some of
which were felt in neighbouring Singapore, Thailand and
Malaysia.
"There is no explanation about why there are so many quakes
hitting Indonesia at this time but Indonesia is perhaps the
most active earthquake area in the world," Geophysicist Grant
told Reuters.
Indonesia suffers frequent quakes, as it lies on an active
seismic belt on part of the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire".
A huge earthquake measuring more than 9 struck the same
area of Indonesia on December 26 2004, causing a massive tsunami
and over 230 000 deaths in countries across the Indian Ocean
region.
Many people chose to sleep out in the open on Wednesday
night rather than return indoors, said a Red Cross official in
Bengkulu, a mountainous area that attracts few foreign
tourists.
Bakri Beck, deputy for relief efforts at the National
Co-ordinating Body for Disaster Management, said a team of
ministers was leaving for Bengkulu.
They would take with them a medical team, a ton of
medications, baby formula, tents and body bags, he added.
"Relief efforts are being hampered by the continuous
occurrence of quakes along the west coast of Sumatra, which has
resulted in power outages and disruption of communication," he
said.
- Reuters
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