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CWS update: Sumatra, Indonesia earthquake
An Indonesian paramedic looks at a drip as treatment is administered to earthquake victims under a makeshift tent at Bengkulu hospital.
Photo: REUTERS/Beawiharta Beawiharta, courtesy www.alertnet.org
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The reported death toll from a series of earthquakes in Sumatra, Indonesia, has now risen to 10, though the toll may rise because poor communications in the area may be "hiding the scale of the impact," according to Church World Service Indonesia. Sumatra is the Indonesian island ravaged by the 2004 tsunami disaster.
The first quake, measuring 8.4 on the Richter Scale, hit 65 miles southwest of Bengkulu, Sumatra; a second, 7.8-scale quake, early today (Indonesia time), shook the very same area of Sumatra. There have been more than 40 aftershocks--some of them sizable.
Tsunami warnings were issued for wide areas of the region and nations as far away as Africa. However, the quakes only triggered small, largely non-destructive tsunamis off the coastal city of Padang on Sumatra.
The quakes, though, have caused damage. Large numbers of houses as well as schools, churches and mosques in many coastal areas have been destroyed or sustained damages, according to the Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai (GKPM); harbors, roads and bridges have been damaged or destroyed, with extensive damage reported in the communities of Tuapejat and Siberut. Poor weather conditions are also hampering the movements of boats to and from affected coastal areas and islands.
RESPONSE: Church World Service Indonesia is sending an assessment team to the affected area and is providing initial material assistance of 50 tarpaulins at the request of its Indonesian partner Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU).
"Our partner Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) reports that many of the injured and affected survivors are staying outdoor because of damage to their homes and due to fear of more quakes," said CWS Indonesia Country Director Maurice Bloem.
CWS is also prepared to release material aid from warehouses with pre-positioned relief supplies.
YEU, working in concert with CWS and other Action by Churches Together International forum members, has been in contact with local doctors in Bengkulu to assess the situation in the health sector. YEU is also collaborating with the emergency medical personnel of Yogyakarta and Sardjito public hospitals and sending a medical team to the Bengkulu Utara district to help in providing medical services to the affected.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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