Thousands trapped in rubble following quake
travelbit.co.uk
Oct 2, 2009
At least 1,100 people are now feared dead following a powerful earthquake which struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Tuesday.
The death toll is expected to rise, with rescuers desperately looking through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors.
It is reported a further 2,400 people have been injured in the quake.
The 7.6-magnitude quake struck close to the city of Padang was followed by a 6.9 magnitude quake which struck a few hours later. Both the quakes followed on from a powerful tremor out at sea which caused a tsunami to hit the Samoan and Tonga islands, again killing scores of people.
Those in the area say hundreds of buildings have been brought to the ground in Padang, including hospitals and mosques. Power lines have been cut and several landslides have devastated villages.
Padang is the capital of Indonesia's West Sumatra province, and sits on one of the world's most active fault lines along the "Ring of Fire", renowned for generating earthquakes where the Into-Australia plate grinds against the Eurasia plate to create earth tremors.
The same fault line caused the 2004 earthquake that generated a tsunami which killed thousands of people.
Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari said: "This is a high-scale disaster, more powerful than the earthquake in Yogyakarta in 2006 when more than 3,000 people died."
Rescue workers are struggling to cope in the difficult conditions which have been exacerbated by heavy rains. The British Red Cross has launched a fund-raising appeal to help those caught up in both the earthquake and the tsunami.
The Foreign Office has said all but essential travel to the area should not be taken.
ActionAid has warned heavy rains in Sumatra could lead to the spread of waterbourne diseases following the earthquake.
ActionAid's Hanizam Ghani in Banda Ache said: "Parts of Sumatra are experiencing heavy rains which are worsening an already dreadful situation. There is a real fear that unhygienic conditions could lead to the spread of waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and cholera.
"Our experience of previous earthquakes such as Indonesia, Kashmir and Gujarat shows that what people need immediately are tents, food, water and medical supplies. But as well as meeting physical needs, psychological care is also vital following a traumatic event like this."