Australia offers help with Aceh quake response

Living through the December 26, 2004, natural disaster and tsunami that killed more than 100,000 in Aceh made Wednesday’s magnitude 6.5 quake all the more terrifying.

A strong undersea quake that rocked Indonesia’s Aceh province early Wednesday has killed at least 20 people and collapsed buildings. Rescue crews, some of them working with heavy equipment, were searching through rubble for people who may be trapped underneath. The pace of the search slowed after night fall, hampered by rain and blackouts.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck just after 5 a.m. (2200 GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 11 miles. The agency had initially placed the epicentre undersea. Indonesia’s Climate, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake did not generate a tsunami.

“I can not forget how the tsunami took away my brother and neighbors to the sea”, said Rukiah, a mother of four who with 100 others from her village, Pante Raja, sought shelter Wednesday at a nearby mosque on higher ground.

In the nearby district of Bireuen, a teacher at an Islamic school died after being hit by falling debris, health worker Achmad Taufiq said.

She said: “It terrified me”.

“I’m really scared about a tsunami”, said Rukiah.

The family’s house didn’t collapse but the homes of some neighbors did and Abidin is afraid three friends were buried in the rubble.

Through its relief and recovery projects after the tsunami, CARE assisted more than 350,000 people in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, and on the island of Simeulue, said CARE spokesperson Darcy Knoll.

“BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that quake victims were being sent to the hospitals and the national and regional disaster management agencies are monitoring the situation following the quake”.

He said most took shelter because they feared aftershocks could knock down their houses, which were partially damaged.

Local TV stations broadcast images of collapsed buildings, cracked roads, and improvised field hospitals in which survivors were being treated by the side of the road.

She said an quake like this was quite normal in Indonesia, especially in West Sumatra because of its location within the Pacific Ring of Fire. Amid aftershocks, President Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit the quake-hit Pidie Jaya regency in Sumatra to personally inspect the havoc.

Earlier Khairul Nova, an official at the Aceh search and rescue agency, said: “Dozens are missing but we don’t have accurate data on the total yet”.

The military has erected nearly 30 temporary shelters across the district, where the displaced have flocked but supplies of food and water are said to be low. “Our house is close to the sea so we wanted to get to safer ground; we learnt that lesson from the tsunami”. He says many people complained about lack of clean water, but the problem has been tackled as electricity supply is returning to normal in many areas.

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses around the world can be made online at https://www.oxfam.org.nz/donate/appeal/5024 or call 0800 600 700. People affected by the destruction are beginning to receive aid, including water, blankets and tarpaulins, and humanitarian agencies are assessing how much more they will need.