Java quake death toll 'at least 2,900'
A powerful earthquake flattened buildings in central Indonesia early today, killing at least 2,900 people and injuring thousands more in the country’s worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
Activity picked up at nearby Mount Merapi, one of the worl’s most active volcanoes, and one geologist warned that the quake could still spark a large eruption.
The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 5:54am near the ancient city of Yogyakarta as most people were sleeping, causing death and damage in many nearby towns.
Houses, hotels and government buildings collapsed, sending hysterical people running through the streets. Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get taxis and pickup trucks filled with wounded to hospitals overflowing with patients.
In hardest hit Bantul district, rescuers tried to pull bodies from the rubble as residents started digging mass graves, rows of corpses awaiting burial beneath the blazing sun.
Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor, sobbed next to his dead wife.
“I couldn’t help her,” he said. “I was trying to rescue my children ... and then the house collapsed.”
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the army to help evacuate victims and arrived in densely populated Central Java province this afternoon with a team of Cabinet ministers to oversee rescue operations.
Fourteen hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 2,914, said Social Affairs Ministry official Sopar Jaya, with more than two-thirds of the fatalities occurring in Bantul, closest to the epicentre.
“The numbers just keep rising,” said Arifin Muhadi of the Indonesian Red Cross, adding that more than 3,400 people were hurt.
Doctors struggled to care for the injured, hundreds of whom were lying on plastic sheets, straw mats and even newspapers outside the overcrowded hospitals, some hooked to intravenous drips dangling from tres.
“We need help here,” said Kusmarwanto of Bantul Muhammadiyah Hospital, the closest hospital to the quake’s epicentre, adding that his hospital alone had 39 bodies.
At nearby Dr Sardjito Hospital, health officials tallied 60 dead, but more bodies were lined up in the hallway and some family members were taking them home before they could be added to the official toll.
“Our emergency care unit is overwhelmed,” said Heru Nugroho.
The quake hit close to the rumbling Mount Merapi, and soon after the tremor a large burst of hot clouds and debris avalanched 3.5 kilometres (2 miles) down its western flank. No one was injured
Bambang Dwiyanto, the Energy and Mineral Ministry’s chief geologist, said the two events did not appear to be directly related, but warned that Saturday’s earthquake could still trigger a larger eruption.
“It will influence the activities of Mount Merapi, particularly in the lava dome,” he cautioned.
The quake cut electricity and phone lines in some areas.
It also cracked the runway at the airport in Yogyakarta, home to the famed Borobudur temple, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said.
Officials did not know if the 7th century Buddhist shrine, one of Indonesia’s most popular tourist attractions, was affected in the quake. Nearby Prambanan, a spectacular Hindu temple to the south-east, suffered some damage but it was not immediately clear how much.
Italy’s ambassador to Jakarta, Francesco Maria Greco, interviewed on Sky TG24 TV, said there appeared to be no foreigners among the dead or injured but cautioned that many of the injured are scatteredin various hospitals making it difficult to check everything out.
