Community | October 26, 2010 | 65 comments

Updates: 449 Dead, 270 Injured, 96 Missing after 7.7 Earthquake Triggers Tsunami, Followed by Two Volcano Eruptions, In Indonesia | Videos | Photos

source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/26/indonesia.quake/index.html?hpt=T1

EthicalVegan
10/31/10 Updates: Updates: 449 Dead, 270 Injured, 96 Missing after 7.7 Earthquake Triggers Tsunami, Followed by Two Volcano Eruptions, In Indonesia | Videos | Photos


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ORIGINAL NEWS STORY...

112 dead, 500 missing after 7.7 quake triggers tsunami

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/26/indonesia.quake/index.html?hpt=T1

At least 112 dead, more than 500 missing after Indonesia quake
From Andy Saputra, CNN
October 26, 2010 1:29 p.m. EDT

Indonesian resorts destroyed


Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- At least 112 people were killed and 502 others were missing after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra on Monday and triggered a tsunami, Indonesian officials said Tuesday.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake generated a "significant" tsunami. Some of the missing may include people who are unaccounted for after fleeing to higher ground, said Henri Dori Satoko, the head of the Mentawai Islands parliament.

Although communication with remote areas was difficult, some witnesses in West Sumatra reported seeing a wave 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) high. Other reports described the tsunami as being about 3 meters (almost 10 feet) high.

Satoko said at least one village with a population of about 200 people was swept away, with only 40 people recovered.


Eight to 10 Australians on board a tourist vessel who had been feared missing were reported to be safe, Satoko said. "All foreign tourists are safe.".

The numbers of dead and injured were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands. The area believed hardest-hit was the Mentawai Islands, a popular surfing destination. In particular, Pagai Island was thought to have been affected, said Ita Balanda, a program manager for World Vision in Padang.

Large waves were keeping rescue crews and aid workers from reaching the area. An Indonesian Red Cross assessment team had set out for the island but was forced to turn back because of high seas and debris in the water, said Gayat, spokeswoman for the agency, who like many Indonesians only uses one name. She said the team will try again Wednesday morning.

The trip takes 10 hours, even under good conditions, Balanda said.

The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday, triggering a tsunami warning that was later lifted when sea level readings indicated the threat had diminished or was over for most areas. Its epicenter was 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.

"Big, slow, long earthquake last night, and a couple tremblers afterward," WavePark Mentawai Surfing Resort said on its website. "Turns out it was a 7.5 about 70 [kilometers] south of us." The resort said it saw "about six waves on the beach after about 20 minutes" but none was higher than usually seen during high tide.

"No damage here, but reports of damage to other resorts and charter boats further south," the posting said.

"The local residents in the Mentawai Islands reported seeing a tsunami as high as 3 meters [that] reached as far as 600 meters inland," said Mujiharto of the Indonesian Health Ministry.

The Perfect Wave, a surf travel company that said it had 32 clients in the area, also described the wave in a statement as about 3 meters (10 feet) high, and said it washed through a bay where two boats with clients on board were docked. One boat hit the other, which caught on fire, and all the guests jumped overboard. Nine guests and five crew members were washed into the jungle and took more than an hour to make their way to safety, the company said.

All those aboard were picked up by a third boat and were safe "apart from suffering some smoke inhalation and minor scratches," the statement said.

A surf guide aboard the third boat reported "there was a lot of debris floating in the water including bar stools and other pieces of furniture from Macaronis Resort," the company said. "No news on the state of the village at Silabu."

The resort, where six clients were staying, is "all but gone," the statement said.

"It's very difficult to access the coast right now because the sea is quite bad," said Gilles Bordessoule, owner of the Siloinak Surf Resort. He said his property was unaffected, but his staff was attempting to help the Macaronis Resort, which was "completely destroyed" along with two others. Two of the Macaronis guests are missing, he said.

He said the only means of communication with the affected area is by satellite phone, which is how he found out about the resort and received some other information. The fate of the other 130 kilometers (80 miles) of coastline is unknown, he said.

Bordessoule said he had been in contact with authorities and residents of the area and was told between 150 and 180 people are dead and body bags are needed.

World Vision's Balanda said her organization is working with the Indonesian government and the United Nations to figure out how to get to the hardest-hit area. Indonesian government resources have been sent to central Java, where Mount Merapi was erupting, she said, but said her group hopes one or two helicopters will be freed up to help with the quake and tsunami response. She said she is receiving information from a local nongovernmental organization as well as others in the region.

The Perfect Wave said it was working to obtain replacement passports for its clients and organize flights home.

The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands are at the meeting place of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. A tsunami generated by that earthquake killed more than 225,000 people in 14 countries -- mainly India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Indonesian region of Banda Aceh was hard-hit: About 150,000 died there.

CNN's Sarita Harilela and Brian Walker contributed to this report.
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65 comments // Updates: 449 Dead, 270 Injured, 96 Missing after 7.7 Earthquake Triggers Tsunami, Followed by Two Volcano Eruptions, In Indonesia | Videos | Photos

  • Incredulous
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/31/indonesia.tsunami.victims/

      Tsunami leaves Indonesian survivors in world of pain
      By Paula Hancocks, CNN
      October 31, 2010 -- Updated 0806 GMT (1606 HKT)

      Survivors struggle in tsunami's wake

      STORY HIGHLIGHTS

      * Survivors in Indonesia left with flattened villages following tsunami
      * Ten meter wave swept away many of their loved ones
      * Doctors in makeshift hospitals and others helping with aid effort

      Monai, Indonesia (CNN) -- The first thing you notice is their eyes. Dark misery and utter incomprehension at the horror they have been through.

      It's the same intense stare that questions why they survived and others didn't that I saw in the eyes of Sri Lankans after the 2004 tsunami that killed 225,000.

      Doctors in the makeshift hospitals and those helping with the aid effort work tirelessly, happy to be kept busy and to be helping.

      Village vanishes in wake of tsunami

      But for the victims, still living in their flattened villages, they are helpless. There is little to do but look at what was once their home and relive the horrifying moment a ten meter wave hit and swept away their loved ones.

      Saluhu, who lost his nine year old son, wants to show me where his house was -- all you can see now are the foundations.

      He wants to show me the mass grave where he believes his son is -- his neighbor tells him he buried him there.

      And he wants to tell me over and over again how his son's hand slipped from his wife's hand as they fled the wall of water. He repeats the word "slipped," sliding one hand over the other, to show how such a simple movement destroyed his life.

      He shakes our hands as we leave and holds onto mine a second longer with pleading eyes. We are the first on the ground in this devastated area -- he doesn't know when others will arrive. Some food and water has been dropped from a helicopter.

      If walking away from such pain doesn't break your heart, nothing will.

      All I can do is tell his story so others can feel a fraction of his pain and try to help.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • EthicalVegan:

      The Sydney Morning Herald...

      Weather clears for Indonesia tsunami aid
      H.S. Syahril
      October 31, 2010 - 5:59PM

      Indonesia ramped up aid operations Sunday for victims of last week's devastating tsunami, as the toll climbed despite the discovery of 135 traumatised villagers who were feared dead.

      Monsoonal storms and high seas have plagued efforts to reach disaster-struck coastal villages since they were crushed by the three-metre (10-foot) wall of water late on Monday night, after an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

      But aid chiefs said the weather had cleared early Sunday and more helicopters were on the way to ferry aid to isolated communities accessible only by sea or air.
      Advertisement: Story continues below

      "It's a clear, bright day today so we hope to be able to reach all the isolated villages," relief official Arif Rahman said.

      "Relief distributions are running smoothly," said West Sumatra provincial disaster management head Harmensyah.

      Bottled water, canned food, medicine and tents finally arrived by air Sunday to isolated Tumalei village on North Pagai island, where its 200 residents had been surviving on anything they could scavenge in the forests.

      "We ate bananas, yam, coconuts we found in the jungle," a villager told AFP.

      As rescuers slowly fanned out across the worst-hit islands of North and South Pagai, the death count rose with the discovery of ever more bodies strewn on beaches or wedged under the debris.

      The official toll climbed to 449, with another 96 missing.

      "We're still looking for them... there's a high likelihood they are dead, mostly buried in sand," relief official Joskamatir said of those still unaccounted for.

      Many of the dead are believed to have been dragged out to sea with the receding waters or buried beneath the sand.

      But in a rare piece of good news, 135 people were found alive on Saturday, hiding on high ground and too afraid of another wave to return to their shattered villages.

      "There were also other individuals who have come to the temporary shelters alive. There were also others who returned to their villages," disaster management official Agus Prayitno said.

      Emergency services in Indonesia are being further stretched by the continued eruption of Mount Merapi in central Java, where some 50,000 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.

      Terrified residents fled in panic when the archipelago's most active volcano convulsed again just after midnight on Friday, threatening a repeat of explosions on Tuesday that claimed at least 36 lives.

      No one was killed in the latest eruption, but hospital staff reported that two people died in the chaotic rush to escape, including a woman who was hit by a truck.

      Volcanic ash rained down on the Central Java provincial capital of Yogyakarta 26 kilometres (16 miles) away from the crater, shutting the airport for over an hour.

      Government volcanologist Subandrio said more eruptions were likely and warned evacuees not to tempt fate by going home too soon.

      "We will even have to evaluate whether we need to widen the exclusion zone because we should not downplay the threat -- Mount Merapi is extremely dangerous," he said.

      Many displaced people returned to the slopes of 2,914-metre Merapi, a sacred landmark in Javanese tradition whose name means "Mountain of Fire", to tend to their livestock during the day.

      Extra police and troops were posted at checkpoints on roads leading into the 10-kilometre exclusion zone, and officials reported new arrivals at the shelters following Saturday's eruption.

      "People have voluntarily chosen to stay further away as they were traumatised and wanted to avoid the danger zone," one village administrator, Suranto, told AFP.

      Australia and the United States have pledged aid worth a total of three million US dollars while the European Commission released 1.5 million euros (two million US dollars) for victims of both disasters.

      Indonesia straddles a region known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire", with scores of active volcanoes and major fault lines. Almost 170,000 Indonesians were killed in the 2004 Asian tsunami.

      http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/weather-clears-for-indonesia-tsunami-...

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  

    • .

      October 31st, 2010
      01:23 AM ET

      CNN

      Death toll rises in wake of Indonesia tsunami

      The death toll has gone up to 449 after a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's coast, triggering a tsunami and leaving hundreds injured, authorities said Sunday.

      At least 270 people were injured, according to the Indonesia Disaster Management Agency.

      Ninety-six others are still missing, authorities said.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/indonesian_tsunami_volcano_dea.html

      Indonesian tsunami, volcano death toll tops 300
      Published: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 7:00 PM
      Paula Devlin, The Times-Picayune Paula Devlin, The Times-Picayune

      Mentawai Islands, Indonesia -- The death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 300 on Wednesday as more victims of Indonesia's double disasters were found and an official said a warning system installed after a deadly ocean wave in 2004 had broken from alack 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 sentsearing 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 Wednesday in the tsunami-hit area, said disaster official Ade Edward.

      Huge swaths of land were underwater and homes were torn apart by the 10-foot(3-meter) wave that hit Pagai Utara island in the Indian Ocean south of Sumatra. One house lay tilted, resting on the edge of its red roof,with tires and slabs of concrete piled up on the surrounding sand.

      Hundreds of homes were washed away in about 20 villages, displacing more than20,000 people, Edward said. Many were seeking shelter in makeshift emergency camps or with family and friends.

      Vice President Boediono toured devastated villages on Pagai Utara and met with survivors and local officials, his office said. At one point, he paused solemnly in front of several corpses in body bags.

      The charity SurfAid International is 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 is hearing of "more death, large numbers of deaths in some villages."

      With the arrival of help, 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 center.

      The islands lie close to the epicenter of the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck late 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 theirwaters hoping to give people time to flee to higher ground before atsunami -- which can travel hundreds of miles (kilometers) -- crashedashore.

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

      The system, which uses buoys to electronicallydetect sudden changes in water level, worked when it was completed, butby 2009 routine tests of it were showing problems, said the agencychief, who uses the single name Fauzi. By last month, he said, theentire system was broken because of inexperienced operators.

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

      Asa result, he said, not a single siren sounded after Monday's quake. Itwas unclear if any sirens could have made a difference, since theislands worst affected were so close to the epicenter that the tsunamiwould have reached them within minutes.

      The group that set up thesystem, the Germany-Indonesia agency Tsunami Early Warning System(GITEWS), could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but the questionsFauzi raised highlighted the difficulty for a poor country such asIndonesia in disaster prevention and response.

      On the ash-coveredslopes of Mount Merapi, authorities continued a search for morevictims. Dr. Teguh Dwi Santosa, who works at a local hospital, said thedeath toll had climbed to 30.

      The eruption sent thousandsstreaming into makeshift emergency shelters, although the ash did notdisrupt flights over Indonesia. About 36,000 people have beenevacuated, 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, the chief of Center 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 last200 years. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930 more than adozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1,300 dead.

      Amongthe dead from Tuesday's eruption was an 83-year-old man named Maridjan,who was entrusted by a late king from the nearby city of Yogyakarta towatch over the mountain's unpredictable spirits. He had refused toleave his house high on its slopes.

      The discovery Wednesday ofhis ash-covered body, reportedly found in a position of Islamic prayer,kneeling face-down on the floor, rattled residents who for years joinedhis ceremonies to appease the rumbling giant by throwing rice, clothesand chickens into the crater.

      Many Indonesians paid tribute to Maridjan on Facebook and Twitter.

      "I'm more afraid than ever," said Prapto Wiyono, a 60-year-old farmer from the mountain village of Pangukrejo. "Who's going to tell us what's going on with Merapi?"

      By Achmad Ibrahim and Slamet Riyadi, Associated Press

      Ibrahim reported from the Mentawai Islands and Riyadi from MountMerapi. Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Irwan Firdauscontributed to this report.

    • 1 year ago
  • ghostofamerica
    • -1
      ghostofamerica  

    • this wasnt natural. this is earthquake season. I dont think that in recorded history there has ever been a year with almost a hundred mag 7. quakes

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • ghostofamerica:

      I'm slightly confused.

      You're saying "this" was not natural. And then you say that it's "earthquake season."

      Seriously, I'm confused. What wasn't "natural" about either the earthquake or the tsunami or the volcanic eruption? Those ARE all "natural," as they're created/caused by Nature.

      And what do you mean by "earthquake season"? I've never heard of such a thing. Earthquakes occur multiple times, every day of the year, throughout the earth.

    • 1 year ago
  • Dazedandconfused
    • 0
      Dazedandconfused  

    • Yeah, we told you to convert to christianity, you see what happens? Do you see? But in all seriousness, poor Indonesians, gotta hate natural disasters.

    • 1 year ago
  • HerrDoktor
    • +1
      HerrDoktor  

    • Well said, I am active on current website on a daily basis, but yet i am quite surprised for current not making this headline as priority.

      I guess the situation is getting very active in the region of indonesia, just after the event in 2004 now this.

      They deserve our support..

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/indonesia.volcano/index.html?hpt=T2

      Death toll climbs to 25 in Indonesia volcano eruption
      By the CNN Wire Staff
      October 27, 2010 6:21 a.m. EDT

      STORY HIGHLIGHTS

      * The volcano injured 28 others, a disaster official says
      * More than 22,000 residents have been displaced
      * The volcano erupted at least three times Tuesday

      Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- The death toll rose to at least 25 on Wednesday, a day after the Mount Merapi volcano erupted in Indonesia, officials said.

      The volcano injured 28 others in Merapi, and displaced more than 22,000 residents, said Ibu Neulis Zuliasri, of the National Disaster Agency.

      The volcano erupted at least three times Tuesday, forcing thousands of nearby residents to flee.

      Mount Merapi, which looms on the horizon north of the major city of Yogyakarta, is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes and lies in one of the world's most densely populated areas.

      The volcano has a summit elevation of nearly 10,000 feet [3,000 meters].

      CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report.

      Video: Volcano erupts in Indonesia... Click on this link:
      http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/indonesia.volcano/index.html?hpt=T2

    • 1 year ago
  • Nephwrack
    • +2
      Nephwrack  

    • really though. the Chilean miners have been out of the mine for quite some time now, and prop 19 will be real news when it passes. Paul Krugman and Christine O'Donell (god bless her moronic soul) can fucking wait. i'm calling you out, current. why is this not in the top stories? it seems to me that you're failing to do your duty as journalists. this is real time, horrific stuff, and you're just letting it get tossed around like driftwood in a storm, it's at the mercy of the users apparently. why? there may be more than 600 dead because of these natural disasters, and you cant even feature the story in the never-changing "news" top stories and that's pathetic coming from the people who employ the Vanguard journalists.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Nephwrack:

      Thank you. And I don't mean that about my small part in this, but because you're absolutely right.

      When I first discovered Current, I thought it was all about compassion........ jeez, I live in a damn dreamworld, huh?!

    • 1 year ago
  • Deltone
  • JanforGore
  • Nephwrack
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/csaatsaz/detail?entry_id=75519

      San Francisco Gate

      Surfers Use Trees to Escape Indonesia Tsunami

      Macaroni Resort

      Photo: A surfer tucks into a barrel at Macaronis, off the Mentawai Islands.

      A tsunami triggered by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the Indonesian Island of Sumatra swept a group of Australian surfers on vacation aboard two charter surf boats into the jungles of the Mentawai Islands, a small chain of islands in the Indian Ocean known for their epic surf conditions. Fortunately for the surfers, they were able to climb trees and seek refuge, with all the surfers reportedly surviving the tragedy in one piece.

      The tsunami was so powerful that it swayed the two charter boats violently, forcing the anchored boats to collide and causing one of them to burst into fire. Fortunately the Australian surfers who were swept into the jungle found refuge by climbing trees and have since reportedly been rescued.

      The charter boats were anchored near a surf break called Macaronis. A local surf resort called The Macaronis Resort was reportedly heavily damaged after the impact of the tsunami. The area is currently in recovery following the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that has ravaged the islands of Indonesia. The Mentawai Islands are a group of approximately 70 islands off the west coast of Sumatra that are known for their world class surf.

      Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/csaatsaz/detail?entry_id=75519#ixzz13Y7WsfrH

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/aussies-recount-scary-tsunami-encount...

      The Sydney Morning Herald

      Aussies recount scary tsunami encounter
      October 27, 2010 - 6:39PM

      AP

      A group of Australian surfers arrived in the Indonesian city of Padang on Wednesday, recounting their harrowing encounter with the tsunami on Sumatra's west coast.

      The surfers said they were on the back deck of their anchored boat, the MV Midas, when the wall of water smashed them into a neighbouring vessel, triggering a fire that quickly ripped through their cabin.

      "They hit us directly in the side of the boat, piercing a fuel tank," said Daniel North, the American crew member.

      "Almost immediately, the captain gave the order to abandon ship and everyone got off the boat."

      They clung to surfboards, fenders - anything that floated - as they washed in the wetlands and then climbed the highest trees they could find and waited for more than 90 minutes until they felt safe.

      The Associated Press said the group comprised eight Australians, and American and a New Zealander, but other reports described them as nine men from the Gold Coast.

      Five of the group were taken to hospital in Padang for treatment of minor injuries such as a broken toe, cuts, burns and scratches, News Limited reported on Wednesday.

      On Tuesday, Australian tour guide Rick Hallet, who was the skipper of the Midas, said his boat with 15 people aboard was destroyed by a "wall of white water" crashing into a bay after an undersea quake and said some had to cling to trees to survive.

      "The bay we were in was several hundred metres across and the wall of white water was from one side to the other, it was quite scary," Hallet told Fairfax Radio Network.

      The tsunami was triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which pounded an area off the west coast of Sumatra late Monday.

      At least 154 people were killed and some 400 remain missing, officials said, as terrifying stories of the power of the waves emerged from the remote area.

      Less than 24 hours after the quake, the country's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted, killing at least 25 people and leaving thousands homeless.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11633864

      BBC

      Rescue efforts follow Indonesian natural disasters - Video

      27 October 2010 Last updated at 04:10 ET Help

      Rescue teams in Indonesia are searching for survivors in two disaster areas one hit by a tsunami, another by a volcanic eruption.

      They've been unable to reach some of the villages swept away by the tsunami on the Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra, where more than a hundred people are confirmed dead.

      In Central Java, some 14,000 villagers have been moved from the slopes of Mount Merapi following an eruption that killed more than 20 people.

      Karishma Vaswani reports (video).

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/26/AR2010102606787....

      The Washington Post

      Day after tsunami strikes Indonesia, volcano erupts

      Photo: An Indonesian covered in ash is wheeled into a hospital in the Sleman district. The eruption killed at least 18 people. (Dwi Oblo)

      (Beawiharta)

      By John Nedi and Slamet Riyadi
      Wednesday, October 27, 2010

      PADANG, INDONESIA - Rescuers battled rough seas Tuesday to reach remote Indonesian islands pounded by a 10-foot tsunami that swept away homes, killing at least 113 people. Scores more were missing, and information was just beginning to trickle in from the sparsely populated surfing destination, so casualties were expected to rise.

      With few able to get to the islands to help search, fishermen were left to find the dead and look for the living. Corpses were strewn about because there were not enough people to dig graves, according to the Mentawai district chief, Edison Salelo Baja.

      The fault that ruptured Monday off the island of Sumatra was the same one that caused the earthquake and monster Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries in 2004.

      Also Tuesday, Indonesia's most volatile volcano erupted, killing at least 18 people, including a 2-month-old baby, according to doctors and media reports.

      Smoke poured out of Mount Merapi, obscuring its cone, according to video footage shown on the private Metro TV station. Police and volunteers were shown carrying ash-covered corpses to waiting vehicles.

      Although some scientists have said that the current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the coming weeks or months, Gede Swantika, a government vulcanologist, said the 9,737-foot-high mountain appeared to be releasing some pressure building up beneath the lava dome.

      "It's too early to know for sure," he said, adding: "But if it continues like this for a while, we are looking at a slow, long eruption."

      - Associated Press

      Riyadi reported from Mount Merapi.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-27/indonesia-rescue-services-strained-as-t...

      Indonesia Fights on Two Fronts as Tsunami, Eruption Toll Rises

      By Widya Utami and Eko Listiyorini - Oct 27, 2010 12:35 AM PT

      Indonesia fights on two fronts as Tsunami, Eruption toll

      A woman wears a face mask as ash from the erupting Mount Merapi volcano falls on a street, at Kaliurang village in Sleman. Photographer: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

      Rescuers searched for survivors of a tsunami in Indonesia’s remote west while aid workers headed for the site of a volcanic eruption as the death toll from the two disasters rose to more than 170.

      The toll from the Oct. 25 tsunami that hit the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra reached 154 with 400 missing, the West Sumatra Regional Disaster Management Agency said. At least 24 people died in the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java.

      “The areas are remote and communication is difficult,” Ade Edward, head of operations at the agency, said by phone today. “Our officials over there are supposed to report at least every hour.”

      In Central Java, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Jakarta, Red Cross Indonesia workers are treating people who were burned or otherwise injured after the Mt. Merapi volcano erupted three times, spewing superheated ash into the air and killing at least 24 people.

      “We need more masks, tents, and medicine to treat burn injuries,” Oka Wahid, a spokesman at Red Cross Indonesia’s Yogyakarta branch, said by phone. “We also need food because more people from villages near Merapi are coming down to the evacuation point.”

      There were 1,360 people from five villages heading to the evacuation center in Yogyakarta, he said.

      3-Meter Tsunami

      The 7.5-magnitude temblor struck the Kepulauan Mentawai region of Indonesia, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from Padang, the provincial capital of West Sumatra, and 640 kilometers from Singapore at 9:42 p.m. local time Oct. 25, the US Geological Survey said. The quake triggered a 3-meter (10- foot) tsunami that that reached 400 meters inland, the agency said yesterday.

      President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will return today from a regional summit in Hanoi and travel to the disaster zone, said Julian Pasha, a presidential spokesman.

      Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes as it forms part the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines surrounding the Pacific Basin.

      A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in the same area in October 2009 left more than 1,000 people dead in Padang, many of whom were buried in mudslides and the rubble of collapsed buildings. Less than a month earlier, a magnitude-7 temblor south of Java on Sept. 2 left 82 people dead.

      A magnitude 7 earthquake carries about as much as energy as 199,000 tons of TNT, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

      A tsunami generated by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off northern Sumatra in December 2004 left about 220,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean.

      Warning System

      Since the December 2004 quake and tsunami, countries including Thailand, Malaysia and India have been installing detection buoys and setting up warning networks.

      The system consists of seismological stations and deep-sea sensors, linked to more than 20 information analysis centers capable of receiving and distributing tsunami advisories.

      Many coastal areas have been equipped with sirens or other alarms to warn of approaching waves.

      Indonesia has had two of the world’s biggest volcanic eruptions in the past 200 years, Mount Tambora in 1815 and Krakatau in 1883.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
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      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/2010102742358344424.html

      Indonesia Tsunami Rescue Under Way

      Indonesia struggles to reach survivors after huge waves batter remote island chain, killing at least 154 people.

      Last Modified: 27 Oct 2010 08:06 GMT - Al Jazeera

      Indonesian officials have warned that the death toll from the quake and tsunami could rise in the coming days [AFP]

      Indonesian rescue workers are struggling to reach hundreds of people believed to be missing after a tsunami smashed into a remote island chain in the west of the country, killing at least 154 people.

      Disaster management officials said at least 400 people remained missing on Wednesday, two days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near the Mentawai Islands, in west Sumatra, causing three-metre high waves.

      The waves washed away at least 10 villages and flattened houses, as it surged as far as 600 metres inland on South Pagai island, officials said.

      Medical personnel were on their way to the worst-hit areas in helicopters but rescue efforts had been hampered by disruption to communications on the islands, which are about half a day's boat ride away from the port of Padang on Sumatra. Rough seas and bad weather also hampered relief operations.

      "We need to find the missing people as soon as possible," Harmensyah, the West Sumatra disaster management head, said.

      "Some of them might have run away to the mountains, but many would have been swept away."

      Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Padang on his way to the Mentawai Islands, said the communications disruption had also made it difficult to get an accurate gauge of what has happened.

      "[Officials] are saying some supplies have been able to reach the island through boats, which are really the only way of getting there at this stage," he said.

      "But the message coming back to the West Sumatra government is that a lot more is needed."

      Andrew Judge, the chief executive officer of Surfaid International, which helps local communities in Sumatra, told Al Jazeera that reports of deaths and damage were escalating.

      "We are working closely with the Indonesian government and our contacts in the surf industry to find out the scope and what needs to be delivered.

      "Our worries are not only with the deaths and missing, but also the evacuation site, health and hygiene, and nutrition.

      "If people are suffering from malaria or are malnourished, particularly the very young or very old, and they are moved away from their homes, we are worried about disease outbreaks and further deaths in the weeks to come."

      But in some good news on the island, a group of tourists forced to abandon ship when their charter boats were thrown together by the tsunami arrived safely back in the Sumatran city of Padang.

      Eight Australian survivors, and American and a New Zealander recounted their harrowing encounter with the tsunami after setting foot in Padang on Wednesday.

      "They hit us directly in the side of the boat, piercing a fuel tank,'' Daniel North, the American crew member, said.

      "Almost immediately, the captain gave the order to abandon ship and everyone got off the boat."

      The group clung to surfboards and anything that floated as they washed in the wetlands and then climbed the highest trees they could find to wait for more than 90 minutes until they felt safe.

      Meanwhile, another group of nine Australian surfers were found alive and well after going missing following the tsunami, officials said.

      The Indonesian archipelago straddles a region where the meeting of several continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. The area is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year.

      The Asian tsunami in December 2004 - triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake off northwest Sumatra - killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone.

      Source:
      Al Jazeera and agencies

    • 1 year ago
  • corndog67
  • Nephwrack
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image
    • EthicalVegan:

      Villagers load their buffalos on to a truck as they prepare to leave their village after the Mount Sinabung volcano erupted, in the district of Tanah Karo outside the city of Medan, North Sumatra

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • Nephwrack
  • Nephwrack
  • H2O_4U
    • -2
      H2O_4U  

    • I bet some fucking libertarians are trying to stop "government intervention" (you mean AID ASSHOLES!) from reaching yet another global warming disaster.

    • 1 year ago
  • Nephwrack
  • dadevil
    • +1
      dadevil  
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    • A MESSAGE FROM MY CARD-PLAYING BUDDY!

      Da Don't say I didn't tell you...

      GET-Preparing Your Earthquake Survival Kit - (LA times)

      Preparing Your Earthquake Survival Kit ...

      Sources: USGS, City of Los Angeles Fire Department, California Office of Emergency Services, ...

      Experts now recommend that disaster survivors be prepared to be self-sufficient for up to seven days, although having supplies for at least three days had been the norm. Here are lists of supplies to have at home, in the car and at work:
      GO TO SITE Da LIST?

      http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-disaster17sep17-side,0,2504371.htmlstory

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +3
      EthicalVegan  
    • dadevil:

      Thanks so much for sharing this. We all need to be reminded.

      I have an outdated earthquake survival kit, and procrastination has kept me from bringing it up to the 21st century.

      Having been through one major earthquake, I should know better, damnit. Being landlocked wasn't fun... being without water wasn't fun... being unable to keep food cold or frozen wasn't fun... running OUT of food wasn't fun... the seemingly endless aftershocks weren't fun... losing nearly all my household possessions wasn't fun... knowing of the deaths wasn't fun... seeing a friend's house burn to the ground (cats inside) wasn't fun... living without electricity wasn't fun... living without gas wasn't fun... living knowing others were far worse off than I wasn't fun... Sigh, sigh, sigh.

      And I live in California, for goodness sake! So imagine what it's like for people in such countries as the ones being hit so hard lately. It's tremendously sad.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
    • +2
      CalgarC  

    • at the end of the day global warming does not exist and everything the oil industry says is true...

      its time to change our ways... i am getting tired of saying that already...

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +4
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/10/26/indonesia-hit-by-tsunami-and-volcano/

      24 Hours of Agony: Indonesia Hit By Deadly Tsunami, Then Volcano
      By: Tara Kelly (2 hours ago)

      Mount Merapi volcano

      REUTERS/Beawiharta

      Located in one of the world's most active areas for earthquakes and volcanoes, Indonesia endured two days of environmental disaster after a powerful earthquake, a tsunami and an erupting volcano struck in separate regions of the Indonesian archipelago on Monday and Tuesday, killing hundreds and displacing thousands, reports the New York Times.

      The tsunami, triggered by a 7.7-magnitude undersea quake, hit the Mentawai Islands late Monday, which killed at least 113 people and left hundreds missing, including at least eight foreigners, officials said. Thousands more were left homeless. Meanwhile, the Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia erupted at least three times Tuesday, forcing thousands of nearby residents to flee amid choking smoke. One person was killed and at least 10 people were injured, some with severe burns.

      It was not immediately clear why the two disasters occurred within hours of each other. Indonesia, an archipelago of 237 million people, is prone to environmental disaster because of its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire — a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia. Over 129 active volcanoes can be found across Indonesia's 17,500 islands.

      :

      Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/10/26/indonesia-hit-by-tsunami-and-volcano/#ixzz13...

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +3
      EthicalVegan  
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    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/1026/Tsunami-and-volcano-respon...

      Christian Science Monitor

      Tsunami and volcano response: Indonesia assesses back-to-back disasters

      A volcanic eruption in Central Java sent thousands of panicked villagers fleeing from their homes as government officials attempted to assess the full damage from an tsunami in western Indonesia that killed more than 100 people less than 24 hours earlier.

      Photo: A volunteer watches as Mount Merapi spews volcanic smoke in the background in Kaliadem, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 26. Indonesia's most volatile volcano started erupting Tuesday, after scientists warned that pressure building beneath its dome could trigger the most powerful eruption in years.

      Gembong Nusantara/AP

      By Sara Schonhardt, Correspondent / October 26, 2010
      Jakarta, Indonesia

      A volcanic eruption on Java, Indonesia's most populous island, sent thousands of panicked villagers fleeing from their homes as government officials attempted to assess the full damage from a tsunami in western Indonesia that killed more than 100 people less than 24 hours earlier.

      Officials in Central Java were responding to the eruption late Tuesday of Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes. Volcanologists who had been monitoring Merapi since last week raised the alert status to its highest level Monday, ordering thousands of people living within six miles of the crater to evacuate.

      Off the coast of Sumatra, roughly 1,100 miles away, Indonesian emergency responders were still assessing the impact of Monday's tsunami. The head of Indonesia’s disaster management agency, Wisnu Wijaya, said the local government sent a rapid response team Tuesday afternoon with basic medical supplies and communication equipment to determine what was needed on the remote Mentawai Islands, where a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck late Monday night triggering a 10-foot-high tsunami that displaced thousands land left more than 500 missing.

      The islands are located 175 miles from Padang city on Sumatra, where a powerful 7.6-magnitude quake last year killed nearly 1,200 people. Monday’s temblor jolted the west coast of Sumatra, setting off early warning systems installed as part of the government’s rapid response plan for natural disasters.

      But because of they island’s remoteness, reports on the extent of the damage only began to trickle in late Tuesday. Wijaya said high waves and poor access to communications posed problems for rescuers trying to reach the Mentawais, a rugged island group that is popular with surfers but otherwise rarely visited.

      An official with the regional branch of the Department of Fisheries, told Reuters that 80 percent of the houses in the area were damaged and food supplies were low.

      The national government said it was prepared to assist the local disaster response team as needed. As of Tuesday evening information was still very spotty. The local disaster team reported it was having trouble reaching the islands to perform needs assessments. Still, officials seemed to be in action and organized. Wijaya said he was confident the government which is tasked with response was capable of managing assistance to the islands.

      Central Java officials warned Tuesday that a lava dome containing pressurized gas could collapse, sparking an explosion far worse than the one in 2006 that killed two people.

      Many residents heeded the warning, but thousands more remained near the volcano to watch over their homes and livestock.The slopes of volcanoes provide some of the most fertile soil in Indonesia, creating high population densities in vulnerable areas like the one around Merapi.

      Officials with loudspeakers were encouraging thousands to escape the area as hot gas and ash continued to spew from the volcano’s mouth, according to AFP.

      Surono, the head of Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said people in the area were familiar with the dangers posed by Merapi, which threatens to erupt every few years.

      The government had already prepared some emergency shelters in anticipation of an eruption. But by daylight many residents who evacuated during the night had returned to care for their crops and cattle on the volcano’s slopes.

      Merapi continued to send up clouds late into the night, and scientists said the volcano contained more energy than during previous blasts. An eruption in 1994 sent streams of rock and hot gas down the sides of the mountain, killing more than 60 people. Its deadliest eruption occurred in 1930.

      Indonesia and its 240 million people sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high tectonic activity that holds most of the world's active volcanoes and has the highest frequency of earthquakes.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
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    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/world/asia/27indo.html?_r=1&hp

      The New York Times

      October 26, 2010

      Death Toll Rising After Tsunami Hits Indonesia
      By AUBREY BELFORD

      JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities scrambled to deal with two deadly disasters on Tuesday after a tsunami and volcanic eruptions struck in separate regions of the vast Indonesian archipelago.

      In the first, rescue workers and fishermen searched for survivors in waters west of Sumatra Island after a powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami late Monday killed at least 113 people and left hundreds missing, officials said. Thousands more were homeless.

      About 800 miles to the east, on the island of Java, thousands of villagers were fleeing multiple eruptions of Indonesia’s most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, after it began spewing clouds of hot ash in the early evening Tuesday. One infant died of smoke inhalation, and at least 10 people were injured, some with severe burns.

      Much of Indonesia lies in the seismically active Pacific “ring of fire,” a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia. Experts said the quake was not big enough to have disturbed the volcano, and that it was likely that the two events were not directly related.

      The tsunami, set off by a 7.7-magnitude undersea quake, slammed into the remote Mentawai Islands, wreaking havoc in villages in the south of the island chain and, the authorities believe, sweeping scores out to sea. The islands are a popular destination for foreign surfers, particularly Australians.

      The surge reached as high as 10 feet and advanced as far as 2,000 feet inland, according to officials at the Health Ministry’s crisis center.

      The earthquake occurred along the same fault that produced a magnitude-9.1 quake on Dec. 26, 2004, spawning a tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean. The hardest hit area was in Aceh Province in northern Sumatra.

      Monday’s quake was along a shorter section of the fault, about 500 miles southeast of the 2004 rupture, that last had a major quake in 1833, said Leonardo Seeber, a research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in Palisades, N.Y.

      David Walsh, an oceanographer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, said that the center issued a “local tsunami watch” seven minutes after the earthquake occurred, but that a “destructive widespread threat” did not exist. The warning was canceled several hours later.

      Mr. Walsh said that the watch bulletin was conveyed to the Indonesian government, which issued its own watch but canceled it even earlier than the center did. He said no bulletin would have spared residents of the Mentawais, who were within about 62 miles of the quake’s epicenter. The tsunami would have hit them within minutes, he said.

      At one surf resort, a wall of water smashed apart wooden bungalows and left one tour boat flaming on the beach, said Rini Arif, a booking agent in the nearby city of Padang, on mainland Sumatra.

      “Everyone survived because when the quake struck they ran into our cafe, which is three stories high,” she said. “When they saw the burning boat they all gathered upstairs.”

      The scale of the destruction did not become clear until Tuesday, as rescuers and local officials crossed a Sumatran strait to reach the islands. Much of the search is at sea.

      “So far, we’ve found 15 bodies at sea and a number of survivors,” said Ade Edward, the emergency head of West Sumatra Province’s Disaster Management Agency. Among the missing were eight Australian citizens and five Indonesian crew members aboard a tourist boat, he said.

      A representative for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there could have been as many as 10 Australians on the boat, the Southern Cross.

      At Mount Merapi, authorities had for days anticipated an impending eruption, preparing medical and disaster response teams as well as refuges, as the mountain — just one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia — rumbled. In 1994, the volcano spewed an avalanche of blistering gases and rock fragments, killing 60 people; 1,300 people died in a 1930 blast.

      On Tuesday, the pressure building up beneath a lava dome finally produced a series of four explosions starting about 5 p.m. that sent smoke and debris high into the sky, said Priyadi Kardono, the spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.

      “We’re in the process of evacuating everyone down to the shelter areas,” he said. “The problem is that a lot of people have left it late, so a number have been burned.”

      About half of the people in the threatened area on the mountain’s slopes had already been evacuated, Mr. Kardono said.

      “I just have to follow orders to take shelter here for safety even though I’d rather like to stay at home,” said Ponco Sumarto, 65, who arrived at one of the camps with her two grandchildren. She said her children stayed at home to take care of their livestock and crops.

      Dr. Adi Mulyanto, at the emergency ward of the Panti Nugroho Hospital in Sleman, said at least six people had been badly burned by hot air bursting out of the volcano, with three suffering burns over 80 percent of their bodies, Reuters reported.

      Henry Fountain contributed reporting from New York.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
  • keithponder
  • EthicalVegan
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
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    • CNN photo: At least 112 people were killed and 502 others were missing after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra and triggered a tsunami, Indonesian officials said

    • 1 year ago
  • keithponder
    • +5
      keithponder  
    • EthicalVegan:

      EthicalVegan,

      As usual, THANKS big time for the post. It's not good news to come home after a long hard day at the office, but it is important to be and stay informed about what is really going on outside of this Republican vs. Democrat ,conservative/liberal divide and conquer crap that America is forced to listen to while other people around the planet struggle just to stay alive.

      Thank you again and I salute you for being the absolute best contributor,in my opinion, on a consistent basis, to this website in the past 3 years.

      Great job.

    • 1 year ago
  • tverdell
  • EthicalVegan
    • +3
      EthicalVegan  
    • keithponder:

      You're a sweetheart, but there are countless others making use of Current to spread the IMPORTANT news. And besides that -- as tverdell just aptly wrote -- you're also one helluva contributor, you know!

      Also, keep in mind that seldom do I actually write my own personal comments. I just copy and paste, submit, blah-blah-blah.

      I sure do CARE, though. Thank you, Keith.

    • 1 year ago
  • keithponder
  • keithponder
  • Incredulous
  • Incredulous
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • Incredulous:

      Oh, gosh... blush. And please, please, please do not leave out yourSELF, kiddo! I'm always appreciative of your contributions, and especially your comments. It's really good to know there are those of us who truly care... and who hopes will learn to care.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
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