Death toll following earthquake & tsunami in Indonesia rises to 272

Oct 27 2010

mount merapi volcano destruction indonesia

A house lies ruined surrounded by burnt trees following the volcanic eruption

THE death toll from an earthquake and killer tsunami in Indonesia climbed to 272 today as helicopters with rescuers and emergency supplies finally reached the remote islands.

The estimated number of casualties rose to 272 dead and 412 missing, up from 154 earlier in the day, said disaster official Ade Edward.

The first aerial surveys of the region revealed huge swathes of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a state visit to Vietnam to travel to the site.

Meanwhile rescuers scoured the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano for survivors today after it was rocked by an eruption which killed at least 30 people, including an old man who refused to abandon his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain's spirits.

Authorities warned the thousands who fled Mount Merapi's wrath not to return during today's lull in volcanic activity, but some villagers were desperate to check on crops and possessions left behind.

Two days after a powerful earthquake triggered the wave, the casualty count was still rising as rescuers and disaster officials finally reached the Mentawai island chain, which was closest to the epicentre and the worst hit. Bad weather had kept them away.

It was the second major disaster to strike Indonesia in less than 24 hours. The country's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, 800 miles to the east, erupted at dusk on Tuesday, sending up searing ash clouds.

Both events fell along Indonesia's portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines that are prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

Disaster officials were still trying to reach more than a dozen villages on the Mentawais - a popular surfer's destination that is usually reachable only by a 12-hour boat ride.

The 7.7-magnitude quake that struck late on Monday just 13 miles (20 kilometres) beneath the ocean floor was followed by at least 14 aftershocks, the largest measuring 6.2.

The latest blast from the volcano last night eased pressure that had been building up behind a lava dome perched on the crater. But experts warned the dome could still collapse, causing an avalanche of the blistering gas and debris trapped beneath it.

"It's a little calmer today," said Surono, the chief of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "No hot clouds, no rumbling. But a lot of energy is pent up back there. There's no telling what's next."

Mount Merapi, which translates as "Fire Mountain," has erupted many times over the last 200 years. In 1994, 60 people were killed.

More than 11,000 people live on its fertile slopes.

A doctor at a local hospital said the death toll climbed to 30 and 17 had been taken to hospital, mostly with burns, respiratory problems and other injuries.

Among the dead was Maridjan, an 83-year-old man who had been entrusted by a highly respected late king to watch over the volcano's spirits.

"We found his body," said Suseno, a rescue worker, amid reports that the old man was found in the position of praying, kneeling face-down on the floor.

Maridjan, who for years led ceremonies in which rice and flowers were thrown into the crater to appease spirits, has angered officials in the past by refusing to evacuate even during eruptions.

They accused him of setting a wrong example, stopping other villagers from leaving, but Maridjan always said he would only go if he got a sign from the long-dead king who appointed him.

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Tsunami triggered by powerful earthquake leaves at least 23 dead in Indonesia

Oct 26 2010

A POWERFUL earthquake has triggered a tsunami that pounded villages on remote islands off western Indonesia, killing at least 23 people and leaving more than 160 others missing.

The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude quake, which struck 13 miles beneath the ocean floor yesterday, was expected to climb with reports about damage and injuries just starting to trickle in the next day.

Mujiharto, who heads the Health Ministry's crisis centre, said a 10ft wave washed away hundreds of houses on Pagai and Silabu, part of the remote and sparsely populated Mentawai island chain.

"We have 200 body bags on the way, just in case," he said.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

The fault, which runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra island, also caused the 9.1-magnitude quake that unleashed a monster tsunami around the Indian Ocean in 2004, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Getting to the Mentawais, a popular surfing spot 175 miles from the Sumatra coast takes 12 hours and the islands are reachable only by boat.

A group of Australians said they were hanging out on the back deck of their chartered surfing vessel, anchored in a nearby bay, when the quake hit.

It generated a wave that caused them to smash into a neighboring boat, and before they knew it, a fire was ripping through their cabin.

"We threw whatever we could that floated — surfboards, fenders — then we jumped into the water," Rick Hallet told Australia's Nine Network. "Fortunately, most of us had something to hold on to ... and we just washed in the wetlands, and scrambled up the highest trees that we could possibly find and sat up there for an hour and a half."

By daytime today, the toll from the quake and tsunami was rising.

Ade Edward, a disaster management agency official, said 23 bodies were found in coastal villages — mostly on the hardest hit island of Pagai — and another 167 people were missing.

Water in some places reached roof tops, and in Muntei Baru, a village on Silabu, 80 percent of the houses were damaged.

Some 3000 people were seeking shelter Tuesday in emergency camps, Edward said, and the crews from several ships were still unaccounted for in the Indian Ocean.

The quake also jolted towns along Sumatra's western coast — including Padang, which last year was hit by a deadly 7.6-magnitude tremor that killed more than 700. Mosques blared tsunami warnings over their loudspeakers.

"Everyone was running out of their houses," said Sofyan Alawi, adding that the roads leading to surrounding hills were quickly jammed with thousands of cars and motorcycles.

"We kept looking back to see if a wave was coming," said 28-year-old resident Ade Syahputra.

Indonesia earthquake death toll rises to at least 311 as officials admit tsunami warning system was broken

Oct 28 2010

THE death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 300 today as more victims of Indonesia's double disasters were found.

Meanwhile an official said a warning system installed after the deadly ocean wave in 2004 had broken from a lack of maintenance.

Hundreds were still missing after Monday's tsunami struck the remote Mentawi islands off western Sumatra, where officials were only beginning to chart the scope of the devastation.

At least 311 people died as the huge wave, triggered by an undersea earthquake, washed away wooden and bamboo homes, displacing more than 20,000 people.

About 800 miles to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was mostly quiet but still a threat after Tuesday's eruption that sent searing ash clouds into the air, killing at least 30 people and injuring 17.

Among the dead was a revered elder who had refused to leave his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain's spirits.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rushed home from a state visit to Vietnam to deal with the catastrophes, which struck within 24 hours along different points of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", a series of fault lines prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

The first cargo plane loaded with tents, medicine, food and clothes landed yesterday in the tsunami-hit area, said disaster official Ade Edward.

Huge swathes of land were underwater and homes were torn apart by the 10ft wave that hit Pagai Utara island in the Indian Ocean south of Sumatra.

Hundreds of homes were washed away in about 20 villages, displacing more than 20,000 people, Mr Edward said. Many were seeking shelter in makeshift emergency camps or with family and friends.

The charity SurfAid International was getting "grim news" from village contacts, said Andrew Judge, head of the group founded by surfers who have been helping deliver aid.

He said he was hearing of "more death, large numbers of deaths in some villages".

With the arrival of help, Mr Edward said officials "finally ... have a chance now to look for more than 400 still missing".

Officials prepared for the worst, sending hundreds of body bags, said Mujiharto, head of the Health Ministry's crisis centre.

The islands lie close to the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck late on Monday beneath the ocean floor. The fault line on Sumatra island's coast is the same one that caused the 2004 quake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.

After that monster wave, many countries set up early warning systems in their waters hoping to give people time to flee to higher ground before a tsunami - which can travel hundreds of miles - crashed ashore.

Indonesia's version, completed in 2008 with German aid, has since fallen into such disrepair that it effectively stopped working about a month ago, according to the head of the Meteorology and Geophysic Agency.

The system, which uses buoys to electronically detect sudden changes in water level, worked when it was completed, but by 2009 routine tests of it were showing problems, said the agency chief, who uses the single name Fauzi.

By last month, he said, the entire system was broken because of inexperienced operators.

"We do not have the expertise to monitor the buoys to function as intended," he said.

As a result, he said, not a single siren sounded after Monday's quake. But it was unclear if any sirens could have made a difference, since the islands worst affected were so close to the epicentre that the tsunami would have reached them within minutes.

On the ash-covered slopes of Mount Merapi, authorities continued a search for more victims. Dr Teguh Dwi Santosa, who works at a local hospital, said the death toll had climbed to 30.

The eruption sent thousands streaming into makeshift emergency shelters, although the ash did not disrupt flights over Indonesia. About 36,000 people have been evacuated, according to the Indonesian Red Cross.

Some defied authorities and returned home to check on crops and possessions left behind. More than 11,000 people live on Merapi's fertile slopes.

Tuesday's blast eased pressure that had been building behind a lava dome on the crater. Experts warned that the dome could still collapse, causing an avalanche of the blistering gas and debris trapped beneath it.

"It's a little calmer today," said Surono, head of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "But a lot of energy is pent up back there. There's no telling what's next."

The volcano, whose name means "Fire Mountain", has erupted many times in the last 200 years. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930 more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1300 dead.

THE death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 300 today as more victims of Indonesia's double disasters were found.