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Indonesia quake toll above 3,700

The nation suffers its worst disaster since 2004's tsunami.

By TIMES WIRES
Published May 28, 2006

BANTUL, Indonesia - Desperate relatives searched rubble for survivors Saturday after a powerful earthquake flattened nearly all the buildings in this rice-farming town while residents slept, killing more than 3,700 people on Indonesia's densely populated Java island.

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.3 temblor, which struck at 5:54 a.m. local time, was about 15 miles southwest of Yogyakarta (JOG-jakarta), an ancient city of half a million people just north of Bantul and about 250 miles east of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Thousands of people were injured, and officials said they expected the death toll to rise.

"It was like being chased by thunder," said Rina Neriwati, 48, who works at a hotel in Yogyakarta. "Under my feet, I felt the tremble of the earthquake. I was so afraid."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew in to comfort survivors and confer with officials coordinating the rescue and first-aid effort. He slept in a tent camp Saturday with survivors.

Fearing a repeat of the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 131,000 Indonesians, some villagers fled inland when the quake struck around 6 a.m. Others, fearing it was an eruption from the nearby Mount Merapi volcano, headed toward the coast. Still others ran in confusion, trying to find a safe place away from the crumbling buildings.

As night and a driving rain fell across the disaster zone - stretching across hundreds of square miles of mostly farming communities in Yogyakarta province - tens of thousands of people prepared to sleep on streets, in rice fields and in backyards, fearful of aftershocks. Power was out across the region, and villages were dark.

At least 3,731 were killed in the quake, rescue officials told the Associated Press. The worst devastation was in Bantul, where 80 percent of the homes were destroyed and more than 2,000 people killed.

Residents started digging mass graves almost immediately. Village heads recorded their names so the victims could be added to the official death toll. Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name, sobbed next to his dead wife, his house destroyed.

"I couldn't help my wife ... I was trying to rescue my children, one with a broken leg, and then the house collapsed," he said. "I have to accept this as our destiny, as God's will."

Yogyakarta, one of the country's oldest cities and a popular tourist destination, is noted for its two historic religious monuments, Borobudur, a Buddhist temple, and Prambanan, a Hindu temple. Initial reports indicated that Prambanan had suffered damage.

The only foreigner reported killed or injured in the quake was a man from Holland. U.S. Embassy spokesman Max Kwak said he did not know of any American casualties.

It was the most recent in a series of disasters to strike Indonesia - from the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Aceh province to a widening bird flu outbreak to the threat of eruption from Mount Merapi.

The quake's epicenter was 50 miles south of the rumbling Merapi volcano, and activity increased soon after the temblor. A large burst spewed hot clouds and sent debris cascading some 2 miles down its western flank.

Bambang Dwiyanto of the Energy and Mineral Ministry could not say whether the quake caused the volcanic activity but warned that it could trigger a larger eruption.

But a geological researcher at the Indonesian Science Institute, Dani Hilman, said he did not believe the quake was powerful enough to create a large eruption.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A doctor with the Indonesian Red Cross, who was volunteering at the hospital in Bantul, said all the hospitals in the area were teeming with victims and the situation was becoming desperate.

"We're running out of anesthetic, thread and bandages," Dr. Lydia Setyawati said. "And we can only give early treatment. We don't have the specialists to treat some victims."

Unused supplies collected for the 2004 tsunami victims were being moved from warehouses in Jakarta and Medan to the scene of the new disaster.

The earthquake cracked the runway at the airport in Yogyakarta, forcing it to be closed, but it was not clear how that will affect relief efforts.

Expressions of shock and condolence, paired with pledges of aid, began to flow into Indonesia. The United States responded with an emergency allocation of $2.5-million for assistance to victims.

"Through financial and material support, the United States is assisting with recovery efforts in coordination with Indonesian authorities, and we stand prepared to provide additional assistance as needed," President Bush said in a statement released late Saturday.

Neighboring Malaysia said it will send a 56-member search team, doctors and medical supplies, and the European Commission said it would release up to $3.8-million in emergency aid.

The World Food Program was sending a plane with 2 tons of medicine and eight truckloads of fortified noodles and biscuits, agency spokeswoman Brenda Barton said in Rome.

The Italian government also loaded a plane with 27 tons of tents, blankets, water purifiers, electric generators and other aid, the Foreign Ministry said.

UNICEF is sending 9,000 tarpaulins, 2,000 tents, health kits and hygiene kits, spokesman John Budd told CNN.

In the parking lot of Bantul's hospital, Pardio, 34, a rice farmer, lay on newspapers among hundreds of wounded villagers. He had been asleep in bed with his wife, 6-year-old, Putri, and 13-month-old daughter, Uli, when the quake hit.

A wall collapsed on the family, killing Putri.

Pardio began to cry as he recalled how he had reprimanded his high-spirited daughter a day earlier. "She was just being a little naughty, and it's hard to tell her to behave," he said. "But now I'm feeling very sorry."

Pardio said he would forever remember his daughter's last words: "Daddy, I know I'm a bit naughty, but I promise I won't do anything naughty tomorrow."

Information from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Washington Post was used in this report.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The following are among aid agencies that will accept contributions for quake victims:

AMERICAN RED CROSS

International Response Fund

PO Box 37243

Washington, DC 20013

Toll-free 1-800-435-7669

www.redcross.org

SAVE THE CHILDREN

54 Wilton Road

Westport, CT 06880

Toll-free 1-800-728-3843

www.savethechildren.org

U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF

333 E 38th St.

New York, NY 10016

Toll-free 1-800-486-4233

www.unicefusa.org

[Last modified May 28, 2006, 04:59:11]