subject: Indonesia struggles after dual disasters [print this page] Indonesia struggles after dual disasters Indonesia struggles after dual disasters
Indonesia struggles after dual disasters
Indonesia moved to count the costs and help survivors Wednesday after a tsunami and volcanic eruptions struck separate parts of the country, killing at least 300 people and driving tens of thousands from their homes.
In the worst-hit region, the Mentawai Islands off western Sumatra, health and rescue workers managed to reach only some isolated areas nearly two days after a powerful magnitude 7.7 underwater quake sent a wave more than 10 feet high crashing into coastal villages.
Ade Edward, head of operations of the Disaster Management Agency in West Sumatra province, said the tsunami had killed at least 272 people and left 412 missing. About 16,000 people were displaced, officials said.
At the same time, aid workers about 750 miles to the east, on the island of Java, scrambled to provide water, food and medicine to tens of thousands of people driven from their homes after eruptions of the Mount Merapi volcano killed at least 29, obliterated houses in bursts of hot gas, and spread ash and debris over the surrounding densely populated countryside.
Edward acknowledged that Indonesia's tsunami warning system did not cover the Mentawais, but said this was because of the short time it would take for a wave caused by an undersea quake along the nearby fault line to reach them.
"There is no technology that could give a warning in under five minutes," he said.
"Bad weather and powerful waves delayed efforts to reach many of the survivors in the Mentawais", Edward said.
"All along the coast, people have fled up into the hills because quakes are happening nearly on the hour," he said. "These quakes are forcing us to set up temporary shelters. It's really tough work."
Ships and helicopters had been sent to the impoverished islands, along with medical teams, shelters, medicine and two electricity-generating barges, Edward said. Downed communications meant that radio was the only way to communicate with many areas, he said.
He said that most of the dead were local fishermen. "People on land felt the quake and ran to higher ground," he said. "The people at sea had no idea there was a quake."
The two disasters, which struck within 24 hours of each other, prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cut short a trip to Vietnam, where he was to attend a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday. Instead, he flew to Sumatra and was due to visit the Mentawais early Thursday, a government statement said.
