osted: 27 May 2006 0741 hrs

Strong earthquake hits Central Java, several killed, hundreds injured

AFP
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia : Several people were killed and hundreds injured when a strong earthquake rocked the densely-populated southern coast of Indonesia's Central Java on Saturday, police and witnesses said.

"We have no figure yet, but yes, there are several people reported killed and hundreds of injured," said Subiyakto, an officer with Yogyakarta province's police.

Meteorologists said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale and hit at 5:53 am (2253 GMT Friday), around 37 kilometres (23 miles) south of the city of Yogyakarta. US and Hong Kong monitoring stations put the quake at 6.2.

Temblors were felt in various cities in Central and East Java, including on the northern coast of Central Java and as far as Kediri to the east.

An official on duty at the Panti Rapih general hospital in Yogyakarta said that "hundreds of people are being admitted and they continue to come."

He said that most had cuts and broken bones and came from areas south of the city such as Bantul and Gunungkidul.

Witnesses told Elshinta radio that several hospitals in Yogyakarta were packed with people seeking treatment for injuries caused by collapsing buildings.

It said that hundreds of houses partially or entirely collapsed in the Bantul and Kulonprogo districts south and southwest of Yogyakarta.

"The report is that the earthquake was on the coastline, also followed by tidal waves," Yogyakarta province police chief Bambang Hari Sampurnojati told the ElShinta radio.

He could not give further details on the reported waves.

"The electricity is down for the entire city," Subiyakto said, adding that the telephone network was disrupted in several areas.

Subiyakto said that reports from the city of Yogyakarta itself said that damage was mostly confined to minor structural damage, sliding roof tiles and broken windowpanes.

AP - YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's Central Java province early Saturday, killing at least 309 people, injuring scores, and flattening buildings.

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 5:54 a.m. 15 miles southwest of the city of Yogyakarta, causing damage and casualties there and in at least two other nearby population centers, officials said. Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, is around 18 miles from the sea and about 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta.

a city I've visited some 20 odd times this year.

Its a wonderful, beautiful but chaotic town with many many buildings that have not exactly been built to withstand anything. Even one of the new malls, opening a few months back, I've seen on TV from here in Bali (where we felt the quake at 6.50 am) is a mess.

Sadly this is going to get worse before it ends and the death toll will rise.

I have several friends in the area, but have been able to contact all but one who I'm hoping is ok..

to hear you are ok. :) First thing I checked last night was to see how far away you were, I figured you had to have felt it. Between the tsunami,bird flu, volcano and earthquakes the Indonesians sure have been having a rough time.

BANTUL, Indonesia Reuters - International relief efforts picked up on Tuesday for survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people on Indonesia's Java island, but many victims complained vital aid was not reaching them.

Planes carrying supplies from abroad reached the stricken region, while the airport at the ancient royal capital of Yogyakarta, the main city in the affected area, re-opened to commercial traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal.

U.N. officials say more than 22 countries have responded to Indonesia's call for help with aid or pledges of assistance.

But help was still a long way off for some.

In the hard hit rural area on the way to Bantul town, Jumadi and his two barefoot teenage boys begged motorists for money.

"Our village has many victims, houses are all destroyed and we have not received aid from the government. This is (all) we can do. What else can we do," he said as his sons held up carton boxes containing some rupiah notes.

The quake's official death toll had reached 5,428 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the government's Social Affairs Department, and it had left more than 130,000 homeless by one estimate, many without shelter and short of food.

Speaking inside a makeshift tent by a main road on the outskirts of Yogyakarta, Siwo Sudarmo said: "I'm very sad ... we haven't received any assistance. We have to make our own tents and I also learned that if you want to get a tent you have to fill out a form.

"Every day trucks with signs 'aid for quake' pass by but we can't stop them," he said.

Sudarmo said he was relying on donations from passers-by for money to get clean water and instant noodles.

Government and aid groups say clean water and shelter are the immediate needs, as well as medical care.

The
United Nations is shipping three 100-bed field hospitals, tents, medical supplies and generators this week.

In one example of the effort to deal with the crisis, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday it had delivered 35 tonnes of relief materials to four locations, including Bantul, the district that suffered the most.

Bantul town itself was not as damaged as the immediate area around it, and Muhadi, 55, wearing a black Muslim cap, said he had been back in business since Monday selling rice in his 4-square-metre kiosk.

"Yesterday I opened the shop. It's better than staying at home doing nothing (though) there were only a few buyers."

The tremor early on Saturday was centred just off the Indian Ocean coast near Yogyakarta, the former Javanese royal capital.

NO GRAFT, PRESIDENT WARNS

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who moved his office temporarily to Yogyakarta, vowed late on Monday all relief funds would be spent on quake victims.

"I have asked (officials), and this has been implemented, that we must maintain transparency and accountability. Don't misappropriate one dollar ..." he told reporters in Yogyakarta.

Indonesia is notorious for endemic corruption. The government has set aside relief funds of 100 billion rupiah ($10.86 million) from now till August. A year of reconstruction and rehabilitation will begin after August, costing the government 1.1 trillion rupiah, he added.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said survivors would be given 200,000 rupiah ($21) each for clothes and household items, while families would get 12 kg (26.4 lb) of rice. People will also be compensated for damaged homes.

Yogyakarta's airport was re-opened to commercial traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal. The passenger terminal was blocked off with big sheets of tin and the roof had caved in. The airport was relatively quiet early on Tuesday.

LATEST MISFORTUNE

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said doctors and medicines were being sent to affected areas to prevent outbreaks of diseases such as measles and malaria.

Saturday's quake was the latest misfortune to hit the world's fourth-most populated country after Islamic militant bombings, bird flu outbreaks and the massive 2004 quake and tsunami.

The quake initially heightened activity at nearby Mount Merapi -- a volcano rumbling for weeks and sporadically emitting hot lava and highly toxic hot gas -- sparking fear of an imminent massive eruption.

But on Tuesday the Merapi section head at Yogyakarta's volcanic research center, Subandrio, said: "Today's activities are relatively lower compared to yesterday. The maximum range of the hot ashes today is 3 km (2 miles)."

He cautioned that it was still uncertain how the quake affected volcano.

Indonesia sits on the Asia-Pacific's so-called "Ring of Fire," which is marked by heavy volcanic and tectonic activity. The December 26, 2004, quake and its resulting tsunami, left some 170,000 people dead or missing around Aceh.

donate or who want to know more this site has a whole lot more including photos and links

U.S. Marines arrive in Indonesia with aid

Chris Brummitt, Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, May 30, 2006

BANTUL, Indonesia -- Two U.S. military cargo planes landed Tuesday at the site of an earthquake in Indonesia that killed more than 5,400, bringing some of the first significant aid to reach the tens of thousands of survivors who were left homeless.

About 20 U.S. Marines arrived on the cargo planes in the historic city of Yogyakarta and unloaded heavy lifting machinery and a portable field hospital, as Malaysian, Chinese and Japanese rescue workers joined Indonesian teams providing medical care and emergency supplies to victims.

Most of the survivors of Saturday's 6.3-magnitude quake were living in improvised shacks near the ruins of their homes or in shelters erected in rice fields. Officials say about 200,000 people lost their homes.

However, conditions had improved in two hospitals in the quake zone, with no patients being treated outside or in the corridors Tuesday like there were until recently.

In a worrying sign, nearby Mount Merapi volcano, which has been belching gas and lava for weeks, shot out more large plumes of ash and debris. A scientist monitoring the peak blamed the heightened activity on the weekend temblor, though other experts said that may not be the case.

The quake levelled tens of thousands of poorly constructed homes into piles of bricks, tiles and wood in less than a minute, as many
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