ACT News Update

Indonesia 0105

ACT members responding to latest earthquake off Indonesian coast

Geneva, March 29, 2005—Nearly three months to the day that an earthquake triggered a tsunami that left nearly 300,000 dead or missing, another earthquake has struck off the west coast of Indonesia.

Last night's 8.7 magnitude quake has again claimed the lives of people still struggling to come to grips with last year's tsunami that was triggered by the December 26 earthquake.

The Indonesia coordinating office for the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International reports that northern Sumatra's Nias Island and Simeuleu Island off Aceh were hit very hard. A state of emergency has been declared in the area. ACT Indonesia's information officer, Djunijanto, writes that local ACT members are responding to the latest disaster.

Yayasan Tanggul Bencana (YTB) and YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU) are coordinating their relief efforts. YTB will concentrate on providing food items to affected people and is getting rice, baby food, mineral water and instant noodles ready for distribution to the affected area. The distribution is planned for tomorrow and will be flown to the region.

YEU will provide emergency medical services and has sent three medical doctors and a nurse by helicopter from Jakarta directly to Nias.

Both YTB and YEU were already present in the area, responding to the disaster of December 26, 2004, when the latest earthquake struck.

Church World Service Indonesia (CWS) is contributing non-food items. They have prepared 25 boxes of medicine, 1,000 units of non-food packages and 500 tents to be distributed. CWS Indonesia is coordinating the shipment of these relief goods with YTB.

In an update to the ACT Coordinating Office in Geneva, Djunijanto writes that between 500 and 1,000 houses and/or buildings have been damaged or destroyed in Gunungsitoli, the capital of Nias. Four churches are said to have collapsed. The Nias airstrip was destroyed and a wide road now makes do as a place for small aircraft to land. The two biggest markets in the capital burnt down according to reports, and two vital bridges were damaged. Electricity and telephone lines have been cut.

The number of causalities has not been confirmed, although it is believed that many people are still trapped in the rubble of buildings that collapsed. According to local authorities, the number of people killed by the quake is thought to run into the hundreds, but fears are that the death toll may exceed 1,000. Hundreds of people are believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings.

Still traumatized by the earthquake-triggered tsunami at the end of last year, people are reported to have fled to higher places, including local churches and mosques.

The ACT Coordinating Office in Geneva has approved the allocation of $500,000 US to relief efforts related to the latest disaster.