Powerful Earthquake of 8.5 hit Aceh and Medan at 08:00 WIB (01:00 GMT) this morning. The center of the quake is around Biruen in Aceh. A lot of damages and victims reported in Aceh while around Medan no serious damages is reported so far.

The quake at the surrounding islands and countries around the Malaca Strait and the Andaman Sea. 14 people reported kill in Phuket because of the tidal wave. In Sri Lanka, 160 reported dead from the tidal wave following the Indonesian quake.

SBY is said to be flying to Aceh soon after he spent this X'mas with the quake victims in Papua.

I wish to send my condolonces to all of those affected by this quake.

Hope my Indonesian forumers are alright :)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) just revised the quake to 8.9 - it is now the world's most powerful in 40 years.

According to detik.com.. so far there are 64 victims in Aceh. Sri Lanka 400 victims. Thailand 64 victims. India 280. Sri Lanka goverment has declared National Emergency.

According to US Geological Surveys, this is no 5 most powerful quake in Aceh since 1900, in scale of 8.9 ritchter.

Wow...
The Pacific Ring of Fire seem to get mad for some reason.

I wish to send my condolonces to all of those affected by this quake too..

Quake, tidal waves kill hundreds

Colombo
December 27, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au.

A huge earthquake hit southern Asia today, setting off a tsunami that drowned hundreds in Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia and washed away bathers on the Thai tourist island of Phuket.

The earthquake of magnitude 8.5 as measured by the US Geological Survey struck about 8am (midday AEDT) off the coast of the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra and swung north with multiple tremors into the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean.

A wall of water up to 10 metres high set off by the tremor swept into Indonesia, over the coast of Sri Lanka and India and along the southern Thai tourist island of Phuket, leaving at least 650 people feared dead, officials said.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before," said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The earthquake was the world's biggest since 1965, said Julie Martinez, geophysicist for the US Geological Survey. "It is multiple earthquakes along the same faultline," she said.

The worst-hit area appeared to be the tourist region of Sri Lanka's south and east and the chairman of the John Keells hotel chain said five of his hotels had been badly flooded.
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At least 500 were feared dead in Sri Lanka, the National Disaster Management Centre said.

"The army and the navy have sent rescue teams, we have deployed over four choppers and half the navy's eastern fleet to look for survivors," said military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake.

An official in eastern Trincomalee said 3000 people had been displaced and six villages destroyed.

Along the southern Indian coast, as many as 74 people were killed and many injured by a tsunami there, hospital and government officials said.

Officials said 400 fishermen were missing in south India.

"Thirty-four are dead and 14 are admitted in hospital," said an official at the Government Royapettah Hospital in Chennai, formerly known as Madras and the capital of Tamil Nadu state.

Dozens more were dead in Prakasam district in southern Andhra Pradesh and in Machalipatnam district, taking the total death toll in the state to 40, officials said.

The wave swept into the low-lying Maldive islands whose coral atolls are a magnet for tourists, flooding two-thirds of the capital Male, said chief government spokesman Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

"The damage is considerable. The island is only about three feet above sea level and a wave of water four feet high swept over us," he said.

"It is a very bad situation. It is terrible," he said.

"We have no communications with some of the outlying atolls. At this stage we fear the worst. We are trying to send boats to assess the damage, but our resources are stretched to the limit."

The world's worst tsunami in recent history struck on July 17, 1998, when three tsunamis ripped through Papua New Guinea's northwest coast, killing 2500.

As many as 94 people were killed today in Indonesia's Aceh province on northern Sumatra island.

"They were mostly drowned by the waves," Bireuen regency mayor Mustofa said by telephone, adding that hundreds of houses had been swept away.

Indonesia's geophysics and meteorology office put the epicentre of the earthquake at 150km off the southern coast of the island and said the earthquake measured 6.8 on the open-ended Richter scale.

"There was no warning and suddenly the sea water just hit the city," said Bustami, a resident of the Aceh coastal town of Lhokseumawe. "In some parts the water was up to a chest level.

"People are quite panicked now, some of us are walking by foot and others are on military trucks going to higher ground."

Residents said waves as high as five metres struck the northern coast, killing at least nine, causing widespread damage and sending thousands fleeing in panic.

Residents said buildings collapsed and people fled their houses.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire where plate boundaries intersect and volcanoes regularly erupt.

In the Thai tourist island of Phuket at least one person was killed, four were missing and 100 injured when the wave, five to 10 metres high, crashed onto beaches lined with luxury hotels at the peak of the tourist season.

"There was a very large ocean wave after the earthquake and about 100 people were injured," Suparerk Tansriratanawong, director general of Thailand's Meteorological Department, told Reuters.


More than 10 people were killed and 100 injured or missing in the southern Thai province of Phang Nga.

The prime minister called for the evacuation of areas hit by a tsunami wave in three southern provinces, including Phuket.

"I have ordered that rescue officials move people out of the risk area," Thaksin told reporters.

- Reuters

That is crazy. Imagine if the quake hit the eastern part of Sumatra.

Death toll just increased:
Aceh 157
Sri Lanka 1000

damn...

earthquakes and tsunamis are the worst.

That is crazy. Imagine if the quake hit the eastern part of Sumatra.

Then, it will be a much bigger disaster....Imagine Banda Aceh, Medan, Penang, Langkawi, Phuket could really be distroyed. Kuala Lumpur can be damaged as well while Bangkok and Singapore will probably feel a much stronger tremor....Just can't imagine....and let's hope it won't happen.

Again, now let's hope helps are on the way for those people affected in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Maldives.

It seems now that Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport in Banda Aceh is heavily damaged. All flights have been suspended and re-routed to Medan,

Communication to Nias Island which is located not far from the quake epicenter is still not possible.

Im in Medan.
Everything is okey.. but maybe this is bigest earthquake in Medan. Strong and long ;p~~

Di Rumah kedengaran "krek2" makanya berlamburan keluar rumah. Pohon2 bergoyang2.
Di medan baik2 saja.
Aku merasa takut ketika gempa bumi berlangsung hingga 1 menitan.. karena aku merasa 3,4 menit gempa.

Dikabarkan cuman beberapa hotel dan bangunan tinggi yang mengalamin kerusakan, seperti pecah kaca, dsb nya.

Dari siang hingga malam ini medan kembali lancar. Masyarakat tidak takut untuk berpergian ke MALL2 dan pusat2 belanja.

info terakhir dari CNN
SRI LANKA
Confirmed death toll is over 1,500, but Colombo officials believe death toll will rise above 2,000

INDIA
At least 1,000 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, interior minister says

INDONESIA
More than 450 killed -- many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra

THAILAND
Thai authorities say at least 248 killed -- 200 reported on the small island of Phiphi

MALDIVES
At least three children reported killed in the high waters on an island north of the capital, Male

Maap aku ndak pakek bahasa ingris.

Good to know you are Ok, laba laba. I saw on the Australian TV this afternoon that Sun Plaza also reported some cracks.

:( Receive my condolences

Does anybody know if the majority of skyscrapers in Indonesia are designed for earthquakes?

How has Pulau Weh effected?

I guess some of the buildings are..... However, I doubt a lot of buildings can survive 8.9. Remember the 6.8 in Kobe back in 1994? All structures in Japan are constructed as earthquake safe and yet had hard time surviving that in 1994.

I just heard from my brother in Medan that the Kuala Tripa hotel in Banda Aceh did not survive the quake. Kuala Tripa was considered the best in Banda Aceh. Please take note that the strongest aftershock occured in Banda Aceh with a scale of 7.3.

:( Could get quite a bit worse after the aftershocks.

Sri Lanka: 3,000
India: 2,000
Indonesia: 1,870
Thailand: 200
Malaysia: 42
Bangladesh: 2

Exactly one year since the Bam earthquake in Iran (Dec. 26th). Maybe someone is trying to tell us something.

Anyone know of funds set up to help those effected, especially in Aceh. Indonesians can come together and show they care.

More than 8,700 people across Asia were killed Sunday after one of the most powerful earthquakes on record triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

Tourists, fishermen, hotels, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, centered off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where at least 1,902 people were killed by floods and collapsing buildings, officials said.

But the scope of the disaster became apparent only after waves as high as six meters (20 feet) crashed into coastal areas throughout the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea.

In Sri Lanka _ some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) west of the epicenter _ the death toll stood at 4,150, according to police and Tamil Tiger rebels. One million more were affected by the surging wall of water, the government said.

Indian officials said more than 2,000 had been killed along the country's southern coast. Another 289 were confirmed dead in Thailand, 42 in Malaysia and 2 in Bangladesh. Thousands of people were missing, many of them fishermen at sea, and rescue workers struggled against floodwaters to find and evacuate stranded victims.

The death toll climbed throughout the day and was expected to grow even higher as more bodies were discovered. Hundreds of bodies were found on various beaches along India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, and more were expected to be washed in by the sea, officials said.

"I was shocked to see innumerable fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper," said P. Ramanamurthy, 40, a resident of the neighboring Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

"Many boats were upturned, but fishermen were still holding on to them," Ramanamurthy said. "They also were pushed into the sea. It was shocking."

Among those killed along India's Andhra Pradesh state were 32 people, including 15 children, who had gone into the sea for a Hindu religious bath to mark the full moon day, police said. They said 20,000 people were evacuated in four districts.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Web site recorded the magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra, 1,620 kilometers (1,000 miles) northwest of Jakarta. It was centered 40 kilometers (25 miles) below the seabed. Aftershocks struck in the magnitude 7 range.

The earthquake was the world's fifth most powerful since 1900 and the strongest since a 9.2 temblor slammed Alaska in 1964, U.S. earthquake experts said.

The force of it shook unusually far afield, causing buildings to sway hundreds of miles away, from Singapore to the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, and in Bangladesh, hours after the region's Christian communities had finished Christmas celebrations.

Initial damage centered on the Indonesian province of Aceh on northern Sumatra. Dozens of buildings were destroyed, but as elsewhere, much of the death toll appeared to come from onrushing floodwaters.

Towns nearest the epicenter were leveled by tidal waves, which killed at least 1,902 people and left bodies wedged in trees as the waters receded, Indonesian officials and witnesses said. Officials warned the death toll could rise dramatically.

"I saw nine people killed by flooding, including four children," a witness who gave his name as Mustafa told el-Shinta radio station from Banda Aceh.

A spokesman for Indonesian state-owned Garuda Airlines said Banda Aceh's airport was flooded and planes were unable to land.

In Sri Lanka, the government called Sunday's events a national disaster and appealed for emergency relief.

"It is a very tragic situation," said police spokesman Rienzie Perera, adding that some hospitals were unable to treat the injured.

Holidays turned to disaster in southern Thailand, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists to its southern beaches during the Christmas season. At least 289 people died, 1,900 others were injured and thousands _ reportedly including foreign tourists on diving excursions _ were missing, authorities said.

"Just out of nowhere, suddenly the streets (were) awash and people just running and screaming from the beach," John Hyde, a vacationing Australian state lawmaker, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

"People were getting swept along still on their motorbikes," Simon Morse, another Australian tourist, told the ABC. "There were cars that had been picked up by the storm surge and they were getting pushed down the road, taking things out as they went."

The owner of two resorts on Phi Phi island _ where the film "The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed _ said that 200 of his bungalows were swept out to sea, along with some of his employees and customers.

"I am afraid that there will be a high figure of foreigners missing in the sea, and also my staff," said Chan Marongtaechar, who was in the Thai capital of Bangkok at the time. He estimated that 700 people could have been on the beach.

In India, 2,016 people were killed, many swept away in boats, homes and vehicles, officials said.

The worst affected area was Tamil Nadu state where 1,567 people were killed, said the state's top elected official, Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa.

At least 102 people were killed in the federally administered territory of Pondicherry near Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said.

At least 116 people were killed in Kerala state, said Fisheries Minister Dominic Presentation. Another 14 died in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Among those killed in India's Andhra Pradesh syaye were 32 people _ 15 of them children _ who had gone into the sea for a Hindu religious bath.

High waves inundated the Maldives, a string of 1,192 coral atolls off the southwestern coast of India, injuring one Italian tourist and forcing the airport to close, an official said. A British man died from a heart attack minutes before the waves hit.

In Malaysia, authorities closed some beaches to the public after 42 people were swept away near the northern city of Penang. The victims were believed to be mainly tourists and included some foreigners, a police spokesman said. Their identities were not immediately known.

At least 2 children were killed when a boat capsized in Bangladesh, local authorities said.

Officials received reports that some vessels capsized at sea, but there were no further details, said Low Kong Chiew, director of the state government's Seismological Division.

:( It just keeps going up, 9500 (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&e=3&u=/nm/quake_dc) now.

Tidal wave toll climbs over 11,000
December 27, 2004 - 6:09AM

Tidal waves from a massive undersea earthquake smashed into coastlines across Asia, washing away whole villages in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India and dragging sunbathers out to sea and snorkelers across jagged reefs at tourist havens in Thailand. More than 11,300 people were killed in six countries.

The death toll from the most powerful earthquake in four decades climbed steadily throughout Sunday as authorities counted bodies washed up on beaches and left hanging like ragdolls from trees. Foreign tourists were among the dead and the thousands of others who were reported missing. Tens of thousands fled the coasts for higher ground, fearing aftershocks and further flood surges.

Worst hit was Sri Lanka - an island nation some 1,600 kilometres west of the epicentre. The death toll stood at 4,500, according to police and Tamil Tiger rebels and one million people were displaced. Sri Lanka's government declared a national disaster.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake - the strongest since a 9.2 magnitude temblor in Alaska in 1964 - struck around breakfast time off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, about 1,620 kilometres northwest of Jakarta, the capital, the US Geological Survey said. It was 10 kilometres deep, and was followed by a half-dozen powerful aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from almost 6 and 7.3.
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Towns in Sumatra's Aceh province, the closest region to the earthquake's epicentre, were swamped by the waves. The health ministry said at least 4,185 people were killed, and hundreds more were missing in the area.

The quake occurred at a place where several huge geological plates push against each other with massive force. The survey said a 1,000-kilometre section along the boundary of the plates shifted, motion that triggered the sudden displacement of a huge volume of water.

The reverberations sent waves as high as six metres thundering into the coasts of six countries, sweeping away tourists, fishermen, hotels, homes and cars.

"Suddenly this huge wave came, rushing down the beach, destroying everything in its wake," said Simon Clark, 29, a photographer from London vacationing on Thailand's Ngai island. "People that were snorkeling were dragged along the coral and washed up on the beach, and people that were sunbathing got washed into the sea."

A government disaster center said 289 people, including a number of Western holiday-makers, were killed and more than 3,600 injured in southern Thai resorts.

"We initially thought it was a terrorist attack, then the wave came and we just kept running upstairs to get on as high ground as we could," Gerrard Donnelly, another British tourist, staying at a resort in Phuket, Thailand, told Sky News.

In India, the waves swept away boats, homes and vehicles killing nearly 2,300 people in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry, officials said.

Tamil Nadu's beaches resembled open-air mortuaries as fishermen's bodies washed ashore, and retreating waters left behind others killed inland. Sea water flooded the streets of Cuddalore town, flipping over dozens of cars and leaving some vehicles perched atop road dividers. At least 20,000 people were evacuated from the region, officials said. At least 300 people were killed on India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, and another 700 were missing and believed dead, Press Trust of India cited the region's police chief as saying.

"I was shocked to see innumerable fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper," said P Ramanamurthy, 40, an Andhra Pradesh resident.

"Many boats were upturned, but fishermen were still holding on to them," he said. "They also were pushed into the sea. It was shocking."

In Aceh's Lancuk village, and a reporter for The Associated Press saw several bodies wedged into trees, apparently left there by receding waters. At least 30,000 people were reported to have fled their homes in the region. At least 49 were killed on the island of Nias, to Sumatra's west and close to the epicentre of the quake.

In Malaysia, at least 42 people, including foreign tourists swimming or riding jetskis, were killed on the resort island of Penang, police and government officials said.

The force of the earthquake shook unusually far afield, causing buildings to sway hundreds of miles away, from Singapore to the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, and in Bangladesh, hours after the region's Christian communities had finished Christmas celebrations.

From the Vatican, Pope John Paul II led appeals for aid for victims, a call that was quickly echoed across much of Europe as relief efforts were organized and government rushed to check whether their citizens were among the missing or dead.

"The Christmas holiday has been saddened by the news that comes from Southeast Asia about the powerful earthquake," the pontiff said during his customary Sunday address.

"Let us pray for the victims of this enormous tragedy and assure them of our solidarity for all those who suffer, while we hope that the international community acts to bring relief to the stricken populations," he said.

The 25-nation European Union promised to quickly deliver 3 million euro ($A5.3 million) in emergency aid.

"For all the huge advances in the control of our lives through science and technology, an earthquake on this scale is truly humbling as well as profoundly tragic," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Holidays turned to disaster in southern Thailand, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists to its southern beaches during the Christmas season.

The owner of two resorts on Phi Phi island - where the Hollywood blockbuster The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed - said that 200 of his bungalows were swept out to sea, along with some of his employees and customers.

"I am afraid that there will be a high figure of foreigners missing in the sea, and also my staff," said Chan Marongtaechar, who was in the Thai capital of Bangkok at the time. He estimated that 700 people could have been on the beach.

High waves inundated the Maldives, a string of 1,192 coral atolls off the southwestern coast of India, injuring one Italian tourist and forcing the airport to close, an official said. A British man died from a heart attack minutes before the waves hit.

At least two children were killed when a boat capsized in Bangladesh, local authorities said.

© 2004 AP

4,400 in Indonesia now. They've stopped collecting bodies for the night. Let's hope it doesn't rise much further.

MY Condolences for all the deaths and people affected in Indonesia. OUr hearts are with you...

God I had no idea. I saw a headline of an earthquake in Asia this morning when I got home and I thought "God I hope it was nothing serious".

I am so sorry :cry:

Unfortunately the casualty numbers will rise dramatically in the coming days. This was a catastrophic event for Souteast Asia.

God I had no idea. I saw a headline of an earthquake in Asia this morning when I got home and I thought "God I hope it was nothing serious".

I am so sorry :cry:

my prayers and sympathies go out to all the victims and their families...

:( I pray for all those who are caught up in this terrible disaster, as well as pray for the relatives! i cannot begin to imagine how their lives and conditions are at this very moment in time! :( let's hope n pray that the toll won't rise any higher!

DISASTER TOLL
Sri Lanka: 4,300 dead
Indonesia: 4,185 dead
India: 2,900 dead
Thailand: 310 dead
Malaysia: 28 dead
Maldives: 10 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead

Wow, this is tragic. My thoughts and condolences go out to all affected. :(

Latest number is 12,300.

This is awful. I send my condolences out to all affected by this disaster.

Apparently this earthquake has been upgraded from 8.9 on the richter scale to 9.0 on the richter scale by the US Geological Survey, making it the fourth strongest recorded since 1900:


Quake upgraded to 9.0
From correspondents in Los Angeles
27dec04
THE US Geological Survey today said the earthquake that sparked huge tidal waves in the Indian Ocean measured 9.0 on the open-ended Richter scale, making it the fourth biggest quake in the past century.

Don Blakeman, a senior geophysicist at the survey, said the figure had been revised up from 8.9 after the study of new data.

"This was a very major event, the fourth largest earthquake since 1900," Mr Blakeman said from the survey base in Golden, Colorado.

The worst earthquake since 1900 was a 9.5-magnitude quake in Chile in 1960, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Two earthquakes in Alaska, in 1957 and 1964, and one in Russia's Kamchatka region in 1952, ranked 9.0 or above. The Kamchatka temblor also measured 9.0 on the Richter scale.

The Indian Ocean quake struck 250km southeast of Banda Aceh in Sumatra sending tidal waves roaring across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 11,500 people according to the latest tolls.

Another USGS expert said four hours after the first quake, an aftershock measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale was recorded. He said several measuring 6.5 or more on the Richter scale were also felt and that more aftershocks were expected.

But the first huge quake caused the devastating tidal waves, the expert said.

I guess some of the buildings are..... However, I doubt a lot of buildings can survive 8.9. Remember the 6.8 in Kobe back in 1994? All structures in Japan are constructed as earthquake safe and yet had hard time surviving that in 1994.

I just heard from my brother in Medan that the Kuala Tripa hotel in Banda Aceh did not survive the quake. Kuala Tripa was considered the best in Banda Aceh. Please take note that the strongest aftershock occured in Banda Aceh with a scale of 7.3.

In medan only scale 5.4 R.
Scale 8.9 in ocean. its about 250km from Meolaboh.
Thats why the big problem coused by Tsunami.

up to 13.390

im so sorry..

yesterday i was watching some tv show about devastating storm that hits adelaide exactly 30 years a go. and then this happen.

yesterday i was watching some tv show about devastating storm that hits adelaide exactly 30 years a go. and then this happen.
I think you mean Darwin. It was 90% destroyed by a cyclone on Christmas Eve in 1974. I know people who were involved in this disaster. Adelaide never has any large scale storms occur.

ah yeah.. darwin. not adelaide. dunno why i type adelaide when i have darwin in my mind hehehe.

Asia quake death toll tops 15,000

CHENNAI, India (CNN) -- As dawn broke Monday across the Bay of Bengal, countries struck by tsunamis in the wake of the most powerful earthquake the planet has seen in 40 years focused on relief and rescue efforts, and said the death toll from the giant waves -- already more than 15,000 -- is expected to rise further.


The tsunamis also left thousands injured, thousands missing and hundreds of thousands homeless in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

A Sri Lankan forecaster warned of a "remote possibility of small tidal waves" caused by aftershocks Monday.

Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,600 kilometers (91,000 miles) from the epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake, which was located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

The quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (midnight GMT Saturday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Center.

It is the fourth-largest earthquake since such measurements began in 1899, according to the NEIC, tying with a 1952 quake in Kamchatka, Russia.

More than 4,500 people have been reported dead in Sri Lanka. Most of them, authorities said, were in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Thousands were missing and more than a half million displaced.

In southern Sri Lanka, 200 prisoners escaped when the waves swept away a high-security prison in Matara.

Witnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city Trincomalee reported 14 meter (40-foot) waves hitting inland as far as a kilometer (0.6 miles).

The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency, and, along with the government of the Maldives, has requested international assistance, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.

The United Nations has warned of epidemics within days unless health systems in the affected areas can cope.

"This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas ... so many vulnerable communities," the U.N.'s Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland told CNN. (Full story)

As the sun rose, 20,000 Sri Lankan soldiers and naval personnel launched relief and rescue efforts. India sent six warships, carrying supplies, along with helicopters.

Priorities including identifying the hardest-hit areas and air-dropping supplies, along with shepherding stranded people to safer areas.

Sri Lankan authorities imposed a curfew overnight, and many residents remained concerned about the possibility of additional tsunamis.

The country has been in the throes of a civil war, and land mines uprooted by the waves were hampering relief efforts.

Some tourists, meanwhile, had been evacuated from the hard-hit eastern coasts to the capital, Colombo, on the west coast and unaffected.

At first light, many Sri Lankans ventured out to scour the debris for belongings or to search for information on missing family members.

Although India was giving aid to Sri Lanka, that country also was reeling from the aftermath of the quake and tsunamis. India's official government news agency, Press Trust of India, said at least 6,000 Indians were killed, and more bodies were being recovered.

A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district -- India's hardest-hit area -- said he saw several people being swept out to sea.

Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away, and thousands of fishermen -- including 2,000 from the Chennai area alone -- who were at sea when the waves thundered ashore have not returned. (Full story)

Along the coast, brick foundations were all that remained of village homes. In Tamil Nadu state, 1,725 people have been confirmed dead, and officials feared many more died on the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, where dozens of aftershocks were centered, but communication with the mainland was cut off.

CNN correspondent Ram Ramgopal said authorities had confirmed 2,000 deaths on those islands.

Efforts to provide survivors with food and shelter were hampered by the overwhelming magnitude of the damage.

Thai authorities said more than 400 people are dead, and hundreds are missing in Phuket.

The area provides 40 percent of Thailand's $10 billion annual income from tourism.

Among the missing were scuba divers who had been exploring the Emerald Cave off Phuket's coast.

Phuket's airport -- which closed when its runways flooded -- reopened, but most roads in the area remained closed, as officials tried to assess the damage.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Phuket and declared the situation "under control." He told CNN he planned to direct rescue and relief efforts overnight.

Witnesses reported guests drowned in their hotel rooms near the coast as 10 meter (30-foot) waves washed ashore.

Others reported narrow escapes -- including a Spaniard who had been aboard a boat when the wave approached.

The captain began screaming and turned the boat directly into a nearby shore, where he beached it.

As those aboard jumped from the craft and scrambled up the steep beach, they turned back to see the waves crush their boat, the Spaniard said.

Communication difficulties
More than 500 people have been confirmed dead in Indonesia -- many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the quake's epicenter, according to local reports.

The quake also inflicted heavy damage on the area, which is a hotbed of rebel activity, before two tsunamis slammed the coastline.

Access and communications were difficult if not impossible; the death toll remained a mystery on the west coast of Aceh, where communications had been completely wiped out. News agencies in the country have reported more than 4,000 dead.

The tsunamis struck with no warning to those in coastal areas, as no warning system exists for the Indian Ocean, said Eddie Bernard, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine and Environmental Labs in Seattle.

Staffers at warning centers that cover the Pacific Basin and the U.S. West Coast were aware of the quake and the possibility of tsunamis, said Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

"They were able to make contact, but they did not have the proper government officials to notify," she said. "They'll be working on this in the future."

The earthquake is classified as "great" -- the strongest classification given by the NEIC.

NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said the tsunamis were triggered by the initial massive jolt.

"The damage is just phenomenal," said Jan Egelund, U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "I think we are seeing now one of the worst natural disasters ever."

Aftershocks
There was disagreement over whether the threat was over. Waverly Person, Blakeman's colleague at NEIC, said the tsunamis are "long over" and residents and visitors should not worry about further tsunamis.

Bernard, however, said the aftershocks are strong enough to produce more tsunamis.

One such aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 300 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Banda Aceh -- on Sumatra's northernmost tip -- more than four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC.

The center expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks, under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that.

"A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," Person said.

The quake represented the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) long. The rupture created shock waves that pushed the water at speeds of up to several hundred kilometers per hour.

It was the strongest earthquake to hit anywhere on Earth since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The strongest recorded earthquake (and records go back to 1899) registered 9.5 on May 22, 1960, in Chile.

Sunday's quake hit a year after the 6.6-magnitude quake in Bam, Iran, which killed more than 30,000 people, injured another 30,000 and destroyed 85 percent of the buildings in the southeastern Iran city.

-- CNN Correspondents Aneesh Raman in Phuket, Thailand, Satinder Bindra in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Atika Shubert in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Suhasini Haidar in Chennai, India contributed to this report

Now at 22,000.
Geez... when this will ever stop..

my condolances for the victims in South - South East Asia

Now at 22,000.
Geez... when this will ever stop..

now death toll @ 23,700

My Condolences to all our friends from this region of South Asia, i really wish the best for your countries and hope the support of the international community arrives soon and be effective enough to be useful.

My best wishes and prays for your people and a big hug from Mexico.

God bless you friends... :(

Kalla is saying Aceh could have 25,000 dead. I hope he is wrong. :(

On BBC I saw footage of part of Aceh from above. Looks really bad. But then Aceh must suffer the worst, since it is close to the epicenter.
My condolances to all of the afflicted families.

My heart goes out to your country, my friends. :(

I found this picture in this website http://staff.aist.go.jp/kenji.satake/,that explain why this earthquake effected to nearly 5 countryhttp://staff.aist.go.jp/kenji.satake/animation.gif

Tsunami quake wobbled Earth's axis
December 28, 2004 - 12:54PM

An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map, US geophysicists said today.

The 9.0-magnitude temblor that struck 250 km south-east of Sumatra island on Sunday may have moved small islands as much as 20 metres, according to one expert.

"That earthquake has changed the map," US Geological Survey expert Ken Hudnut told AFP.

"Based on seismic modelling, some of the smaller islands off the south-west coast of Sumatra may have moved to the south-west by about 20 metres. That is a lot of slip."

The north-western tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra may also have shifted to the south-west by around 36 metres, Hudnut said.

In addition, the energy released as the two sides of the undersea fault slipped against each other made the Earth wobble on its axis, Hudnut said.

"We can detect very slight motions of the Earth and I would expect that the Earth wobbled in its orbit when the earthquake occurred due to the massive amount of energy exerted and the sudden shift in mass," Hudnut said.
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Another USGS research geophysicist agreed that the Earth would have got a "little jog", and that the islands off Sumatra would have been moved by the quake.

However, Stuart Sipkin, of the USGS National Earthquake Information Centre in Golden Colorado, said it was more likely that the islands off Sumatra had risen higher out of the sea than they had moved laterally.

"In this case, the Indian plate dived below the Burma plate, causing uplift, so most of the motion to the islands would have been vertical, not horizontal."

The tsunamis unleashed by the fourth-biggest earthquake in a century have left more than 23,000 people dead in eight countries across Asia and as far as Somalia in East Africa.

The tsunamis wiped out entire coastal villages and pulled beach-goers out to sea.

The International Red Cross estimated that up to one million people have been displaced by the natural disaster.

- AFP

Indonesia has increased the confirmed deaths to 15,000........This tragedy is truly sad. As of now, the death toll stands at 40,000.

I read Indonesia confirmed 21.000 deaths and the death toll is at 44.000 :(

how sad,,,,my condolances for the family of the victims.

its now yp to 46 000

http://www.jawapos.com/images/1104256628b

Meulaboh Hancur Lebur, Belum Tersentuh (The Town of Meulaboh Completely Destroyed, and Still Isolated)

News in Indonesia from Jawapos:

MEDAN - Kian hari kian menyedihkan. Kemarin baru tersibak, Meulaboh menjadi korban paling parah hantaman tsunami empat hari lalu. Perkiraan Wapres Jusuf Kalla, korban tewas di ibu kota Kabupaten Aceh Barat itu mencapai 10.000 jiwa. Ini jumlah korban paling besar di satu lokasi.

"Dengan sangat berat hati, saya melihat hampir seluruh kota Meulaboh hancur. Kira-kira 80 persen," kata Kalla yang matanya tampak berkaca-kaca di pos Satuan Koordinasi Pelaksanaan (Satkorlak) Bencana di Bandara Polonia, Medan, kemarin.

Kalla menyatakan kabar sedih itu setelah melihat dengan mata kepala sendiri Meulaboh yang hancur lebur. Kemarin dia memantau lewat udara terhadap wilayah Aceh dan Sumatera Utara, sepanjang Pantai Barat, dari Pulau Nias sampai Meulaboh. Meulaboh memang lokasi yang paling dekat dengan episentrum (titik pusat gempa).

Dalam meninjau lokasi gempa tersebut, Kalla didampingi oleh Gubernur Sumatera Utara Tengku Rizal Nurdin, Mendagri M. Ma’ruf, dan Menteri Kesehatan Siti Fadilah Supari. Kalla mengendarai pesawat Boeing 737 Mission Cansole. Pemantauan lewat udara dilakukan pada pukul 08.30 sampai pukul 12.00.

Perkiraan jumlah korban itu sangat besar karena meliputi lebih dari seperenam penduduk Meulaboh yang tak sampai 60 ribu jiwa. Lagi pula, perkiraan itu bisa meleset karena kota itu belum tertangani penolong. Seluruh akses jalan ke wilayah itu terputus. Semua jenis komunikasi juga lumpuh. Bandaranya pun terbelah.

Pendaratan hanya mungkin dilakukan dengan helikopter. Baru dua helikopter yang kemarin mendaratkan pasukan TNI perintis ke sana. Keadaan sangat memprihatinkan karena sudah tiga hari penduduk yang masih hidup dan mengalami aneka kesengsaraan tidak memperoleh bantuan. Sampai kemarin pun, penanganan korban belum bisa menyentuh kota di pinggir Samudera Indonesia itu.

Wapres memperkirakan korban yang tewas terkena tsunami di seluruh kawasan Aceh dan kawasan Sumatera Utara mencapai 25 ribu jiwa. Artinya, Indonesia menderita kematian paling parah di antara banyak negara yang terhantam tsunami tektonik itu.

Perkiraan Kalla untuk korban ini sudah terlampaui. Hasil hitungan korban di Aceh, seperti disebut AFP, mencapai 27.174 orang. Itu separo dari jumlah korban total yang dihitung kemarin, yakni mencapai 55.000 tewas.

Dengan korban itu, Indonesia kini menduduki tempat pertama dalam hal jumlah korban terbanyak. Disusul kemudian Srilanka, yang hingga kemarin menyebut 17.640 korban tewas. India lebih dari 10.000 tewas, terparah di Pulau Andaman dan Nicobar di Teluk Benggala.

Thailand menyebut korban tewas hingga kemarin 1.516 orang, 700 di antaranya turis asing. Disebutkan masih sekitar 1.200 orang masih hilang.

Kerahkan Kapal Perang
Kondisi di lapangan memang sangat mengerikan. Dari hasil survei lewat udara di kawasan pantai barat Aceh dan Sumut tersebut, Kalla mengungkapkan kota Meulaboh, yang langsung bertetangga dengan Samudera Hindia, rata dengan tanah. Hanya beberapa bangunan ruko dan gedung bertingkat yang masih bertahan. Pengamatan dari helikopter lebih detail menggambarkan kehancuran tersebut.

Wapres bersama rombongan menyaksikan wilayah Aceh dan Sumatera Utara, sepanjang Pantai Barat, dari Pulau Nias sampai Meulaboh. Dari pantauan udara itu, kawasan Meulaboh mengalami kerusakan yang paling parah.

Di antara seluruh daerah di Meulaboh, yang tampak masih utuh adalah daerah Kualatripa sampai Tapaktuan. "Di luar daerah itu, kondisinya hancur. Memang, ada tanda-tanda kehidupan. Tapi, terlihat hampir seluruh rumah terseret ke laut," papar pengusaha asal Makasar ini.

Menurut situs resmi Pemkab Aceh Barat, luas kabupaten ini 292,795 hektare atau 2.442 km2. Penduduk kabupaten yang beribukota di Meulaboh itu 172.616 jiwa. Kabupaten tersebut diapit Samudera Hindia dan Bukit Barisan. Sebanyak 55,7 persen wilayahnya diselimuti hutan. Selain itu, juga menghampar luas perkebunan kopi dan kelapa sawit.

Bagaimana nasib warga Aceh Barat di luar Meulaboh? Mereka juga belum bisa diketahui. Sebab, wilayah itu ikut terisolasi.

Untuk mempercepat upaya bantuan korban, Kalla menugaskan gubernur Sumatera Utara untuk menanganinya. "Untuk alasan logistik dan praktis, seluruh pertolongan dan rehabilitasi -mulai Nias sampai Meulaboh- ditangani langsung gubernur Sumatera Utara," ungkap Wapres. Jadi, tambah dia, gubernur Sumatera Utara bertanggung jawab untuk pos logistik di posko dan operasional bantuan langsung sampai Pantai Barat, Meulaboh ke atas.

Kalla mengungkapkan, karena musibah di Aceh merupakan bencana nasional, berarti pemerintah yang ditunjuk berhak mengambil segala tindakan yang perlu. "Termasuk, misalnya mengalihkan segala rute penerbangan, transportasi laut, atau helikopter," papar Kalla.

Kemarin, Kalla langsung memerintahkan agar mengirimkan bantuan makanan ke Pantai Barat. Bantuan akan dikirim melalui jalur laut dengan mengerahkan kapal perang. Pemerintah akan menempatkan KRI Sibolga di sana.

Dalam kesempatan itu, Wapres juga mengharapkan masyarakat untuk terus berdoa demi pemulihan para korban gempa. "Kami juga berharap, masyarakat di seluruh Indonesia dan internasional peduli dan memberikan bantuan untuk mengurangi penderitaan masyarakat korban gempa dan tsunami," jelasnya.

Sementara itu, di Bandara Polonia Medan sendiri, pengungsi dari Banda Aceh terus berdatangan sejak Senin lalu. Mereka diangkut dengan pesawat Hercules milik TNI AU. Hingga kemarin sore, sudah ratusan pengungsi yang mengalami luka serius maupun luka ringan. Yang luka serius langsung disalurkan di rumah-rumah sakit yang berada di Medan.

Pengiriman korban luka ke Medan itu telah diputuskan Wapres sejak Senin lalu. Sebab, di Banda Aceh, hanya satu rumah sakit yang berfungsi, yaitu RS Kesehatan Kodam Iskandar Muda (RS Kesdam). Sementara itu, RSU Zainal Abibin maupun rumah sakit lain di Banda Aceh tak bisa difungsikan karena mengalami kerusakan berat. Dengan demikian, di Banda Aceh, penanganan korabn luka hanya dipusatkan di RS Kesdam. (ssk)

Sumber Peta:Situs Resmi Pemda Aceh http://www.bandaaceh.go.id/citymap.asp
Mengapa korban Banda Aceh sangat besar?
- Adalah daerah pesisir dan datar. Pada 2000 lalu, kota Banda Aceh mengalami banjir terbesar dalam 100 tahun terakhir.
- Rata-rata tinggi daratan 0,5 hingga 1 meter di atas permukaan laut.
- Banyak dilalui saluran air serta kanal-kanal sungai (krueng).
- Jarak dari Banda Aceh ke pelabuhan Ulele (yang digunakan menyeberang ke Sabang) hanya enam kilometer -keterangan saksi, air laut masuk hingga 12 km arah kota.
- Jumlah penduduk 216,1 ribu (2003).

I really don't know what to say..my deepest condolences to every one who has suffered. My prayers are with you all. I hope that all Australians will get behind and assist in any way possible all the victims of this disaster.

BBC report that the official death toll in Indonesia is now over 27,000!

Indonesia: 27,174 dead
Sri Lanka: 18,706 dead
India: 4,371 dead
Thailand: 1,516 dead
Somalia: 100 dead
Maldives: 52 dead
Malaysia: 44 dead
Burma: 30 dead
Tanzania: 10 dead
Seychelles: 3 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead
Kenya: 1 dead

In Aceh, as first contact with communities and towns in western Aceh is made, as many as HALF the population of the town of Meulaboh is feared dead, and that as many as 47,000 may be closer to the real death toll in Indonesia alone!

My heart cries out to the victims and their families! :(

- Indonesia: At least 30,000 people were killed, all on Sumatra island, the Health Ministry said. It said this figure did not include districts on Sumatra's hard-hit western coast, meaning the final death toll will almost certainly rise significantly.

- Sri Lanka: Some 21,715 killed in government and rebel controlled areas. More than 1 million people were displaced.

- India: The Home Ministry said 4,413 deaths have been confirmed, but the toll was expected to climb: A police official said 8,000 people were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located just north of Sumatra; so far, 90 deaths from the archipelago were among the ministry count.

- Thailand: The government said 1,516 people died, among them more than 700 tourists.

- Somalia: At least 110 killed, said Ali Abdi Awaare, environment minister of the semiautonomous region Puntland. A presidential spokesman earlier said hundreds were killed without giving an exact figure.

- Myanmar: About 90 people were killed, according to reports compiled by international aid agencies.

- Malaysia: At least 65 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, were dead, according to official reports.

- Maldives: At least 52 people were confirmed dead.

- Tanzania: At least 10 people, mostly swimmers, said Alfred Tibaigana, police commander in Dar es Salaam.

- Seychelles: Three killed.

- Bangladesh: Two killed.

- Kenya: 1

AP's more accurate...malaysia's stood at 65.

sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad...

im lost my friends...

All,
Please if you have the autority of any websites, blog, forum etc. etc.
Be part of " Indonesia Berduka " Campaign ....... by putting one of these banners below

http://www.airputih.or.id/images/nad.gif
http://www.airputih.or.id/images/nad1.gif
http://www.airputih.or.id/images/aceh02.gif
http://www.airputih.or.id/images/aceh03.gif


p.s.

David , can you arrange with jan to put one of these banners on skyscrapercity forum ? thanks

errr.. in english?

I just saw the first amateur video out of Banda Aceh on SKYNews here - it was so scary - the flood water was coming in at such a high speed and high volume.

The death toll is now at 67,000 with Indonesia alone at 32,500 and still climbing since the west coast of Sumatra is not yet counted.

Number of death toll is expected to increase in Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand as well.

When will we see the end of it?

sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad... sad...

im lost my friends...


laba laba, my sympathy goes out to you and to all of you who lost someone in this tragedy. My parents also lost a lot of friends in this tragedy. It is indeed a very sad day for all of us, Indonesian and Asian.

Hi guys

Can you please help me compile a list of Indonesian charities aiding the relief efforts? Perhaps we can start a thread, similar to the one in the Indian forum (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=2891786), here.

Read in the BBC that an entire army battalion was wiped out in Aceh. Any news from the local media on this?

The way the figures are skyrocketing day after day....it is numbing my senses....

Yes it's crazy the magnitude of thousands and thousands of miles of coastline that have been irrevocably been altered.

really, my heart breaks for all those affected by this tragedy! :( The emphasis now is to send aid, and wer to give it...

I am not against donation, but I learn many times that many donations are not given to those in really needed. The Indonesian government is just so corrupt, they take the contributions for themselves. I hope this time will not happen, but I am afraid it will, as usual!

Most of the people suffering in the third world countries, they are defending their fate themselves, the government usually do little or corrupt the contributions given by foreign countries... Very sad indeed.

I am not saying this applies to India, Sri Lanka, etc., but I just said that this is true in the case of Indonesian government and other bad government.

You can donate to the Red Cross or other NGOs rather than the Indonesian government. They have no control over those funds.

Hi guys

Can you please help me compile a list of Indonesian charities aiding the relief efforts? Perhaps we can start a thread, similar to the one in the Indian forum (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=2891786), here.


http://www.airputih.or.id

http://www.airputih.or.id

You can donate to the Red Cross or other NGOs rather than the Indonesian government. They have no control over those funds.

Agreed ... Many Indonesian NGO .... PAHE, MER-C , ... I'll post the list ...

[ I WILL Translate it in ENglish ... and post it ... in a few minutes ]


Berikut daftar kebutuhan di Aceh.

1. Bantuan JANGAN berupa bahan pangan yang masih harus diolah termasuk mi instan, karena di sana tidak ada air bersih dan sarana untuk memasak. Yang amat sangat dibutuhkan adalah MAKANAN BAYI (bukan susu formula, krn inipun membutuhkan campuran air bersih yang sangat langka). Biskuit bayi dan produk siap makan (seperti produk gerber,nestle dkk) akan sangat menolong. Susu cair dalam kemasan / UHT juga akan sangat membantu. (INTINYA MAKANAN SIAP MAKAN)

2. Bantuan Non Pangan, saat ini prioritasnya adalah :
- kantong mayat
- karbol / disinfektan
- masker
karena kondisi mayat membusuk yang bergelimpangan di mana-mana sudah membuat sesak nafas dan apabila tidak segera dievakuasi / diisolasi dikhawatirkan akan menimbulkan wabah penyakit, khususnya Kolera.

3. Bantuan non-pangan lain yang juga masih amat jarang & amat sangat berharga adalah
- kain kafan / sepre besar
- selimut
- pakaian dalam (khususnya wanita)
- kain sarung
- botol susu & dot bayi untuk bayi-bayi yang baru lahir

4. Untuk obat-obatan, peralatan medis & sanitasi harap berkoordinasi dengan DepKes dan LSM Kesehatan supaya bisa tepat guna.

Detail kebutuhan lainnya:

1. Obat-obatan

flu/batuk/demam: decolsin capsul, mixagrip, obh combi, obh combi plus untuk dewasa dan anak2, vick formula 44 utk dewasa dan anak2, new
babt couch syrup, termorex, alphamol, flukol forte, inza, procold, benadryl dmp child, bodrex, bodrexin, panadol, tempra, dll obat2 diare/sakit
perut seperti: andicap, oralit, dialet, diaform, enterostop, papaverin, dll

obat2an utk luka: dansepta, kapas pembalut, alkohol, rivanol, mrecurochrome, kasa, abodine, leukoplast, betadine, ban-aid

antibiotik: amoxillin 500 mg, amoxcillin syrup kering, ampicillin syrup kering, salpenol

gatal/kulit: bedak salicyl, PK, dermal salep kulit, trimadan krim, genoint salep kulit, nosib salep, salep kulit cap kaki tiga, salep kulit 88, daktarin, bedak

herocyn, ikamicetine, fluocinonide ointment, kalpanax, isodine oinment, kemicetine, dll.

lambung: antasida, decolid, cimetidine 200 mg, ranitidine 150 mg, promag

obat gosok: minyak kayu putih, balsam, balpirik, munyak angin

obat lain2/vitamin: vit b kompleks, vit c, vit c drop, vit b1, trisulfa, oxifrot, ctm, aciclovir, captopril, cumachol, rexibet 2, dexamethasone, sulfaferrosus, aminophyline, reserpine, pyridoxine, prednison, frisium, inoprilate, incidal-od, erlamicetin, kalmethason, dextromethorphan tablet, furasemide, tetracyclin 250

2. Logistik

* Susu kental manis dan bubuk
* Gula, Kopi
* Mie
* Beras
* Vitamin2
* Minuman suplemen
* paket P3K

3. Peralatan Komunikasi
- HT, telepon satelit dan koneksi internet (GPRS atau VSAT sekalian)
- Notebook

4. Lain-lain
- Selimut
- Kasur
- Baju
- Sandal
- Kain kafan
- Batere
- Accu
- Kain Kafan

SDM:

1. SAR, asli orang yg paham SAR.
2. Logistik, memahami pembagian dan kebutuhan logistik korban.
3. Media, untuk membantu updating berita dan bagian angkat2.
4. Teknisi komunikasi

Berikut daftar kebutuhan di Aceh.

1. Bantuan JANGAN berupa bahan pangan yang masih harus diolah termasuk mi instan, karena di sana tidak ada air bersih dan sarana untuk memasak. Yang amat sangat dibutuhkan adalah MAKANAN BAYI (bukan susu formula, krn inipun membutuhkan campuran air bersih yang sangat langka). Biskuit bayi dan produk siap makan (seperti produk gerber,nestle dkk) akan sangat menolong. Susu cair dalam kemasan / UHT juga akan sangat membantu. (INTINYA MAKANAN SIAP MAKAN)

[ Aid Not the food that need to be cooked include instant noodle , please food that can be eat instantly, there are no clean water and utensil to cook. The most needed is BABY FOOD ( not milk cream since this also need clean water which is not available ). Baby Biscuit/Cookies dan Readily eat FOOD ( Gerber product, nestle, danone etc etc ... the like ) will be very helpfull. Water milk / Canned-milk/milk in the bottle like .... UHT, Susu Bendera etc. the like ]

2. Bantuan Non Pangan, saat ini prioritasnya adalah :
- kantong mayat
- karbol / disinfektan
- masker
karena kondisi mayat membusuk yang bergelimpangan di mana-mana sudah membuat sesak nafas dan apabila tidak segera dievakuasi / diisolasi dikhawatirkan akan menimbulkan wabah penyakit, khususnya Kolera.

[ Non Food , the priority right now ]
- Corpse plastic
- carbol / desinfectant
- masker

3. Bantuan non-pangan lain yang juga masih amat jarang & amat sangat berharga adalah
- kain kafan / sepre besar
- selimut
- pakaian dalam (khususnya wanita)
- kain sarung
- botol susu & dot bayi untuk bayi-bayi yang baru lahir

Other non-Food Aid ....
- Kain Kafan ( white clothes fabric .... mori/cotton ..... for moslem burial )
- Blanket
- Underwear ( especially for women )
- Sarong .....
- Bottle for newly-born baby

4. Untuk obat-obatan, peralatan medis & sanitasi harap berkoordinasi dengan DepKes dan LSM Kesehatan supaya bisa tepat guna.

Detail kebutuhan lainnya:

1. Obat-obatan [ Medicine ]

[ for Flu, Cough, Fever ]
flu/batuk/demam: decolsin capsul, mixagrip, obh combi, obh combi plus untuk dewasa dan anak2, vick formula 44 utk dewasa dan anak2, new
babt couch syrup, termorex, alphamol, flukol forte, inza, procold, benadryl dmp child, bodrex, bodrexin, panadol, tempra, dll obat2 diare/sakit
perut seperti: andicap, oralit, dialet, diaform, enterostop, papaverin, dll

[ for body trauma / accident ]
obat2an utk luka: dansepta, kapas pembalut, alkohol, rivanol, mrecurochrome, kasa, abodine, leukoplast, betadine, ban-aid

[ Anti Biotic ]
antibiotik: amoxillin 500 mg, amoxcillin syrup kering, ampicillin syrup kering, salpenol

[ SKin and Icth ]
gatal/kulit: bedak salicyl, PK, dermal salep kulit, trimadan krim, genoint salep kulit, nosib salep, salep kulit cap kaki tiga, salep kulit 88, daktarin, bedak

herocyn, ikamicetine, fluocinonide ointment, kalpanax, isodine oinment, kemicetine, dll.


lambung: antasida, decolid, cimetidine 200 mg, ranitidine 150 mg, promag

[ warming medicine , cajuput ]
obat gosok: minyak kayu putih, balsam, balpirik, munyak angin

[vitamin ]
obat lain2/vitamin: vit b kompleks, vit c, vit c drop, vit b1, trisulfa, oxifrot, ctm, aciclovir, captopril, cumachol, rexibet 2, dexamethasone, sulfaferrosus, aminophyline, reserpine, pyridoxine, prednison, frisium, inoprilate, incidal-od, erlamicetin, kalmethason, dextromethorphan tablet, furasemide, tetracyclin 250

2. Logistik [ Logictics ]

* Susu kental manis dan bubuk [ Full cream milk ]
* Gula, Kopi [ sugar, caffee]
* Mie [ noodles]
* Beras [ rice]
* Vitamin2 [ vitamin]
* Minuman suplemen [ drink suplement ]
* paket P3K [ first aid kit ]

3. Peralatan Komunikasi [ communication Eqp. ]
- HT, telepon satelit dan koneksi internet (GPRS atau VSAT sekalian) [ Handy=Talkie, Portable mobile, including the antenna eqp. internet connection ]
- Notebook [ notebook ]

4. Lain-lain [ others ]
- Selimut [ blanket]
- Kasur [ bed... sleeping bag etc. ]
- Baju [ shrt ]
- Sandal [ sandals]
- Kain kafan [ white fabric clothes ]
- Batere [ baterei ]
- Accu [ accu ]
- Kain Kafan

SDM: [ Human resources ]

1. SAR, asli orang yg paham SAR. [ Search and Rescue aware person ]
2. Logistik, memahami pembagian dan kebutuhan logistik korban. [ logistics ]
3. Media, untuk membantu updating berita dan bagian angkat2. [ media people ]
4. Teknisi komunikasi [ telecommunication technician ]

Read in the BBC that an entire army battalion was wiped out in Aceh. Any news from the local media on this?

The way the figures are skyrocketing day after day....it is numbing my senses....

Thai navy base in andaman also kena.. siao

Informasi Alamat Kontak Penting

APJII (POSKO Bantuan):
Cyber Building Lt. 11
Jl. Kuningan Barat No. 8 Jakarta 12710
Telp: 021- 5296 0634, Fax: 021-5296 0635
Direct Contact:
Heru Nugroho (08888000263) email: hn@melsa.net.id
Sugeng Wibowo (0815-1157-1393) email: sugeng@gen.net.id
Edwardo Rusfid (0856-7860897) email: edo@myindo.net
Ahmad Khalil Alkazimy (081316085757 email:ahmad@apjii.or.id)
Fuad(0815 7879 1117 email:fuad@apjii.or.id)
Ferry (0818710744 email: ferry@apjii.or.id)
info rekening:

Rekening BCA


Rekening Bank Mandiri
Atas nama: Yayasan Sekolah2000
no Rekening : 587-007222-0
CAPEM Pembangunan Atas nama: Sugeng Wibowo
no Rekening : 1440004156979

Posko PSN
PASTI : 0868 1212 8075 & 0868 1212 8076
BYRU : 0868 1900 1025 & 0868 1900 0491
Contact Person: Gandi

Pos Media Center Menko Kesra
1. Heru Martono: 0811 902 623
2. I Nyoman Meweh: 0812 801 4096
3. Hadri Pasaribu: 0813 105 92029
4. I Rosdiawan: 0818 816 442

Posko Penanggulanggan Bencana - NAD
0868 - 1212 8638, 1212 8645, 1212 8646, 1212 7854

Kadis ops Lanud Polonia
0811 654 595

Humas Menko Kesra, Pak Dida
021 3453289

Najwa syihab - Metro TV
0868 1900 8000

Satkorlak Aceh, Kolonel Yardi
0811689699

Satkorlak Medan, Pak Tabrani
0812910644 dan 061 77814162

Kantor Humas Penanggulangan Bencana Alam
061-4566524

Palang Merah Indonesia (Indonesian Red Cross)
Rekening untuk rakyat Aceh
Bank BCA Menara Bidakara a.n. Kantor Pusat Palang Merah Indonesia no. 450.666.0009
Contact person: -Irman Rachman (Kepala Divisi Penanggulangan Bencana): 0811 1956 377
-Ibu Aswi Nugroho: 0811 - 918034; 021-799 2325 ext.221 / 201
-distribution technical : Rukman 0812 876 6781




Pos di Lanud Halim Perdana Kusumah
1. Andi Nasir: 0813 111 30057
2. Suarmansyah: 0813 152 25535
3. Setia Ediningsih: 0812 101 2660
4. Edi Sularto: 0813 105 52306

Posko Nasional di Medan: 061 - 456 6524

Bantuan Internasional
1. Dody Budiatman (staf ahli): 0818 830 076
2. Siti Rahayu: 0812 826 7594

Posko Mencari Informasi Keluarga
Media Center Puspen TNI
021 - 84595575 dan 84595576

Media Center Satgas Info TNI - Lhok Seumawe
0645 - 630935 dan 630525

Posko Bantuan Angkut Sosial Mabes TNI
Lanud Halim Perdanakusuma : 021 - 8019035

Wartawan MetroTV Denny Setiawan Batubara [dennysb@yahoo.com]
Humas Penanggulangan Bencana Alam, Posko Pusat Edy Sofyan, 0811618910
Info Kontak untuk Bantuan Logistik:
Ahmad Suwandi (08159005631)

Bantuan untuk korban bencana gempa dan tsunami di Aceh dan Sumatra
Utara dapat disalurkan melalui:

1. Indosiar
Rek. BCA atas nama Indosiar: 001 - 304 - 0009
2. RCTI
Rek. BCA atas nama RCTI: 128 - 300 -7000
3. Koordinator Kesra RI
Rek. atas nama Kepala Biro Umum bidang Kesra
Nama: I Nyoman Meweh
Rek. BNI Cab Harmoni: 07 000 311 2717 911
4. Posko Bantuan di Halim Perdanakusuma dan Kantor Kesra
5. No. telepon perkembangan di Medan: 061 - 456 6524
6. Metro tv
Rek. BCA atas nama metro tv: 309 - 300 - 7979
7. SCTV
Rek. BCA atas nama Pundi Amal SCTV no. 084 - 266 - 2000

Juga mungkin bisa disalurkan langsung ke Bulan Sabit Merah Indonesia (BSMI).
Silahkan disalurkan melalui :
Jl. Dewi Sartika No. 17 Cililitan Jakarta Timur
Telp./Fax. 021-8088 9686
Bank Syariah Mandiri
Jatinegara
no. rek. 0660000885
an. Bulan Sabit Merah

Crisis Center BSMI Jakarta untuk Aceh.
Ady Supratikto : 08151650079
Tim BSMI : Telp/Fax. 021 80889686 :weirdo:

Thanks macgyver

Please also post links to the websites of these groups.

I would think that the Red Crescent would focus relief eforts in Indo as well?

http://www.palangmerah.org/ - Official Website for the Indonesia Red Cross Society (they're in Aceh as you can see on the front page)

You can donate to them the same way you donate to any other, here: http://www.ifrc.org/helpnow/donate/donate_response.asp

INdonesia Red Cross : http://www.palangmerah.org/
MER-C FOundation : http://www.mer-c.org/
Indonesia Red-Crescent : BSMI ( Bulan Sabit Merah Indonesia )
..... no Website yet ...

====== BSMI =====================================
No Rekening : 0660000885 - Bank Syariah Mandiri -
Jatinegara Jakarta
A\n. Bulan Sabit Merah Indonesia.

Sekretariat BSMI : Jl. Dewi Sartika no. 17 Cililitan
- Jakarta Timur
Telp/Fax. 021 80889686

No. Rekening : 7660128420
BCA - KCP Setiabudi Atrium
A.N. ADY SUPRATIKTO

Crisis Center BSMI Jakarta untuk Aceh.
Ady Supratikto : 08151650079
Tim BSMI : Telp/Fax. 021 80889686
================================= BMSI ========

Thai navy base in andaman also kena.. siao
You got the entire naval base and the navy personal there being destroyed to nothingness ah?

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/5682/kapal17uf.jpg

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/8072/mayatsungai13zu.jpg

http://img154.exs.cx/img154/2879/image0019tz.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/3076/image0020tu.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/1998/image0031jx.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/1998/image0031jx.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/3596/image0054gw.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/6492/image0062sx.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/4318/image0070iz.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/3370/image0082mz.jpg
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/3070/image0098xh.jpg

errr.. in english?


http://www.airputih.or.id/images/aceh05.gif http://www.airputih.or.id/images/aceh04.gif

http://img150.exs.cx/img150/3801/mayatsungai11me.jpg

OH MY!!!! WHAT IS THAT??!!!!! BLOATED BODIES ALL OVER THE PLACE. IS THAT FROM ACEH???!!!

magyver, could not see the previous 2 pictures. But the latest series of pictures, I think is not the tsunami in Indonesia, but a strong wave somewhere in China... I saw the pictures previously.

Guys, if you're in Indonesia and want to be a volunteer, you can go to metro tv and ask for it.

I have my volunteer id and I am going to sabang tomorrow for few days to help asses the damage.

All you need to do is preparing with your health certificate, says that youre healthy and no mental disorder. Your skills certificate and anything you can provide with them.


Anyway, I would rather spend my time and effort rather than money, as money would be difficult to distribute among the victims family, looking from the current situation.

Oh and you need to get your own roundtrip ticket and food while you're there

Mac, contact me if you interested, you got my number rite?

Cheers

Very disturbing casualty estimate made by the ambassador of Indonesia to Malaysia

http://drudgereport.com/flash5.htm

Ho My God....
Receive my condolences from Colombia.

Thanks chicagogeorge. Very disturbing indeed. But wonder why Indonesia has not sent fuel for this relief effort? Indonesia is an oil producing country and I believe they can send fuel...

Thanks chicagogeorge. Very disturbing indeed. But wonder why Indonesia has not sent fuel for this relief effort? Indonesia is an oil producing country and I believe they can send fuel...

I think there is no access for the Govt to give the fuel to the area that damaged so bad in aceh

http://img138.exs.cx/img138/18/tsunamiaftermath0wf.jpg

^- Omg.

HOOO MY GODDD... I can't belive... I can't :(

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday offered 500 million yuan ($60.42 million) in aid for tsunami-ravaged countries on top of $2.6 million already pledged.


Reuters
Slideshow: Asian Tsunami Disaster




China was a developing country, but was providing aid out of gratitude for relief it had received for its own disasters, Wen told diplomatic envoys from tsunami-hit South and Southeast Asian countries at Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound.


At a little over $63 million, Beijing is now the third biggest monetary donor behind Britain and Sweden. The United States has made an initial pledge of $35 million.


"The Chinese people are very concerned about the sudden disaster and we have deepest sympathy for the people affected," the premier said.


"The people who have been affected are in our minds and in our hearts," Wen said. "On behalf of the Chinese government and people and President Hu Jintao and myself, I would like to express our consolation to the disaster-hit people and our condolences to the families of those who died in the disaster."


The death toll from the tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia on Sunday, rose to more than 126,000 on Friday in the 13 countries.


"What is particularly encouraging is that the assistance was swift, it was unsolicited and it was timely," said Sri Lankan Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, whose country posted a death toll of more than 28,500 with over 5,000 missing and almost 890,000 people displaced.


China decided to increase aid at a meeting of the foreign, finance, commerce and health ministries, the seismological bureau and the People's Liberation Army on Wednesday. Chinese medical and search teams are on standby.


China, until recently a major recipient of foreign aid, had earlier said there was only so much it could do as a developing country.


Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Thursday the initial pledge of 21.63 million yuan ($2.6 million) was equivalent to the annual income of 20,000 Chinese farmers.


As a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion and a low per capita GDP (news - web sites), China was providing aid within its power, Liu said.


The official Xinhua news agency has said more than 70 Chinese tourists were missing.


China Southern Airlines has airlifted food, medicine and clothing to Sri Lanka, Xinhua said.


The tourism bureau has warned tourists against traveling to tsunami-hit countries.

err.. is it just me or in all the pictures being posted, all the people who are dead are facing downwards for some reason? scary!

That picture is so shocking and heart wrenching.

We all wish all nations hit by this disaster a prompt and safe recovery.

This is the time to help everyone out.

The way all the nations are coming out to help each other is amazing. May this spirit survive forever.

is devastating and horrible. seeing those dead people lying there.

God damn how horrible :ohno: I hope nobody of our forum died there :(

OMG! I can't believe those pictures. That's SO horrible.
WOW. :cry: My condolences for Asia. :(

Currently donators:
(million US dollars)

African alliance 0.10
Algeria 2.00
Australia 27.00
Austria 1.40
UK 96.00
Canada 33.00
China 63.00
Chinese Taiwan region 5.25
Denmark 15.60
EU 40.81
Finland 3.40
France 56.18
Germany 2.72
Hungary 0.27
Ireland 2.72
Italy 4.08
Japan 30.00
Kuwait 2.10
Holland 34.00
New Zealand 3.60
Norway 16.53
Poland 0.33
Portugal 10.88
Qatar 25.00
Saudi Arabia 10.00
Singapore 3.10
Slovak 0.23
Slovenia 0.11
Korea 5.00
Sweden 80.00
Switzerland 23.81
Turkey 1.25
United Arab Emirates 2.00
The United States 35.00
Venezuela 2.00

SO horrible.I can't believe

Very big tragedy! :(

Oh Yamauchi that pic is too horrible, the bodies...oh...
I can't go to new year parties and countdowns because I feel so guilty that we are having fun and people in South Asia is losing their parents or children in just a few seconds!
I would go to donation shows rather~

That picture is really kind of sad. Heartwrenching. Shows the enormity of the tragedy.

US government has pledged $350 million. Amazon and Yahoo have collected around $15 million for the Red Cross. The world is coming together to help, and it shouldn't be long until around $2 billion has been given towards relief and rebuilding.

More horrible pictures from Banda Aceh....Notice how the first floor of this housing block was gone from the quake.
http://img129.exs.cx/img129/8969/dscf25448xb.jpg

And how this fishing boat parked in front of the hotel 6 km inland from the sea
http://img42.exs.cx/img42/1318/dscf25508ra.jpg

Looks like a lot of victims in ACEH were also from the quake as well as from the wave.

http://img127.exs.cx/img127/8783/dscf25659rn.jpg

And these were taken on the 27th of December in Banda Aceh - the city was still flooded then
http://img103.exs.cx/img103/2213/picture32fc.jpg

Last night at Sydney harbour, 1 minute of silence was observed to honor the victims of this tragedy. Fund in the amount of 1 Million AUS$ was also raised from all who attended the fireworks. The mood was quite somber.

Australia so far has pledged US$ 60M to the tragedy. US$ 25M will be going to Indonesia alone. A lot of private fund raising activities are happening here in Australia.

A 6.5 aftershock struck again this afternoon (January 1, 2005) at around 1:10 pm local west Indonesian time. This was the 2nd one in less than 24 hours. A 5.4 aftershock struck at around 8:40pm last night (December 31, 2004).

Imagine the trauma that the people in Aceh is having now. I learned somewhere that tsunami might be possible for any quake after 6.

The Australian public have donated $50m to the tsunami appeal so far, and this will probably double. Also the Australian Govt has donated $60m and this will increase. Australia will play a big role in helping in this time of crisis.

Hi.. :wave:

What is the population of Aceh??

About 4.3 million.

http://www.newsindia-times.com/2005/01/07/main1.jpg

ok

OMG, Look at these pics and its surroundings... :eek2:

http://img129.exs.cx/img129/9505/acehajaib0fk.jpg

http://img129.exs.cx/img129/758/acehajaib23rq.jpg

http://img129.exs.cx/img129/470/acehajaib34as.jpg

This is a unique time presented to Indonesian Government. I do not against donation for humanitarian effort. But very sadly, Indonesian government never take care of their people but continue misused the fund contributed to them. Disaster after disaster, the help received from the Indonesian government is little, if any, of very poor quality.

In many or all cases, the people afflicted with disaster has to settle with poor condition and help from Indonesian government. And in this case, I do not think there will be much different.

In this time also, I believe the Indonesian government got the chance to corrupt again. Very sad. I check that foreign exchange reserve that Indonesia has, enough to fund and help the victim. Indonesia also is oil producing country, it should be able to help its citizen!!

Hi all, this disaster has affected my holiday in Hongkong...and OMG, the first time i've seen those gross pictures of bodies stacked against bodies posted by Yamauchi! didn't see them in BBC or CNN!

My deep condolences for all the victims of this terrible tragedy.

Indonesia is a net oil-importing nation. Many people are angry about the gradual phasing out of fuel subsidies, a luxury that practically every other developing nation around the world does not have the luxury of having. If the Indonesian people are not willing to sacrafice, there is no way the government can improve. Indonesia is now fully democratic, and to criticize the government is to criticize the people.

fully democratic? more democratic probably, but not really democratic yet. I have sacrificed many times, but not via the government. Direct to the people who need it.

Bandung Institure of Technology has some models, pics and articles regarding this tsunami from their Tsunami simulator (in indonesian, slow server blahblahblah).

http://www.ppk.itb.ac.id/aceh/

"Aceh IT-Media Center" Website, a medium to channel all concerns and support to the Aceh Earthquake/Tsunami Victims and Survivors is available:

Indonesian version here:
http://www.acehmediacenter.or.id/id/

English version here:
http://www.acehmediacenter.or.id/en/

Hopefully mr Suharto gives a more than generous donation , if he really cares because he has billions of dollars wich belongs to the Indonesian people now he has the opportunity to do something good.

My heart goes out to those effected in, Banda Aceh - Indonesia, and the rest of the countries that have been devasted by this terrible natural disaster, including, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, Myanmar, Tanzania, Somalia, Seychelles, Bangladesh and Kenya. To all the victims of this tragedy, may they all Rest in Peace, and to any survivors, may they get well and prosper. This event will not only effect the entire Asian region, but it will effect the rest of the world, which is why we must band together and give whatever we can to help those in need in this terrible time.

We Will Remember Them.

Hopefully mr Suharto gives a more than generous donation , if he really cares because he has billions of dollars wich belongs to the Indonesian people now he has the opportunity to do something good.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
:)

On behalf of the Thai citizen, we share the same sadness and hope we can overcome this situation as fast as we can.....Live & Learn

An aerial view taken from a U.S. Navy helicopter assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) shows the devastated coastal region near Aceh, Sumatra, in Indonesia in the wake of the tsunami, January 4, 2005. Hungry and filthy, thousands of Indonesians lined up for water on Tuesday as aid deliveries to tsunami-ravaged Aceh province hit new snags and cases of disease and infection among survivors emerged. In total, more than 94,000 people were killed by the tsunami in Aceh, a province of about four million at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, making up two thirds of the total known toll from the Indian Ocean disaster of about 145,000. Picture taken January 3, 2005. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Tyler J. Clements/Handout http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050104/s/r285738070.jpg

Indonesia's Tsunami Toll Reaches 113,000; Aceh Aid Hampered

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia's death toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami reached 113,000 as the United Nations said relief operations in Aceh are hampered by the destruction of roads in the province in northern Sumatra.

The Indonesian Social Welfare Ministry today revised the death toll from 94,260. The UN said its efforts to reach survivors in Sumatra are facing ``enormous problems.''

``The lack of access by road is a key problem aid agencies face in the northern part and western part of Aceh,'' Chris Lom, an Aceh-based spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said today. Aceh, lying nearest the epicenter of the magnitude-9 earthquake that caused the tsunami, is a ``roadless'' area, said UN Emergency Coordinator Jan Egeland.

Leaders from Asia, Europe and the U.S., at a summit yesterday in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, agreed to the UN coordinating the international recovery operation. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked for almost $1 billion of emergency funds to aid South Asian and East African nations hit by the tsunami. The leaders also agreed to build a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean.

The relief operation isn't ``even close to having any figures of how many people died, how many people are missing and how many people are severely affected'' in Sumatra, Egeland said yesterday in New York. Indonesia is the worst-hit country. Sri Lanka's known death toll is 30,527.

Bridges Gone

In the town of Meulaboh in Aceh, where thousands are waiting for aid, 99 percent of the bridges are gone and 60 percent of asphalt roads are awash with mud, Lom said.

``The waves essentially came in and took out the infrastructure,'' Lom said. ``Places like Meulaboh are now accessible only by helicopters and sea. Helicopters are airdropping aid into the region now. But that's not a long-term solution because it costs $2,500 a hour to keep a helicopter in the air. The seas are very rough, making it tough for ships to deliver aid.''

The relief operation, with the exception of Sumatra, will soon be able to provide blankets, tents, food and water to victims in other countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, Egeland said.

The number of deaths caused by the tsunami ``could easily be'' 200,000 people, Margareta Wahlstrom, a UN special coordinator assigned to the post-tsunami disaster relief effort, said yesterday in Jakarta.

Aid Pledged

Aid pledges rose to almost $5 billion, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday in Jakarta. The European Union later said it might offer a further 450 million euros ($593 million). The U.S. House and Senate unanimously passed legislation yesterday that will allow Americans who donate cash this month to claim a charitable tax deduction on their 2004 tax returns, rather than waiting until next year. President George W. Bush must sign the bill for it to become law.

Annan yesterday called for $977 million to help with sanitation, shelter and other emergency relief, in a speech at the Jakarta summit.

The World Food Program dispatched more than 400 truckloads of foodstuffs to Sri Lanka, enough for 490,000 people for 15 days. A plane arrived yesterday in Male, capital of the Maldives, with 37 metric tons of food and eight metric tons of bleaching powder used for water purification.

The program has delivered 218 tons of foods to 12,000 people in Somalia, along a 300-mile stretch of coastline.

Farming, Fishing

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization yesterday asked for $26 million to revive the farming and fishing industries in the region. The plan is to distribute $10 million in seeds and tools to 25,000 farmers in Indonesia, and nets, boats and other fishing equipment to 25,000 fishermen. The organization plans to do the same in Sri Lanka, with $10 million in aid, and in the Maldives, with $2 million.

Creditor nations have offered debt relief to the disaster zone. Japan said yesterday it will let Indonesia and other tsunami-stricken nations freeze payment on about $65 billion of debt. Its decision came after the U.K. backed a proposal by France and Germany to halt $3 billion a year of debt payments from the countries affected.



To contact the reporters on this story:
Naila Firdausi in Jakarta at nfirdausi@bloomberg.net; Le-Min Lim in Jakarta at
or lmlim@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net.

Jan 4, 2005

A lifeline into Meulaboh ...finally

SAF team builds two landing points to allow heavy equipment to clear a path inland

By Salim Osman In Meulaboh, Aceh and David Boey, Aboard The Rss Endurance, Off Meulaboh

SINGAPORE Armed Forces engineers achieved a major breakthrough yesterday afternoon when they established two landing points at the coastal town of Meulaboh, which has been cut off since the undersea earthquake and tsunami struck on Dec 26.

As the first excavator rolled onto the beach from the RSS Endurance, Indonesian Social Services Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah, in charge of the relief efforts in Meulaboh, expressed his country's gratitude to Singapore for its swift humanitarian aid.

He said: 'When I got word that this ship had anchored off the shores of Meulaboh, I informed Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi who, in turn, informed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

'The President was delighted.'

RSS Endurance, a helicopter landing ship, arrived on Jan 2 with 470 personnel and heavy equipment such as bulldozers, mechanical shovels and forklifts, which are vital in paving the way for relief supplies to reach remote areas in this town of 40,000, which has lost about 5,000 people.

The establishment of the landing site was important as the undersea earthquake had moved the coastline of northern Sumatra, which was closest to the quake's epicentre.

The SAF said in a statement yesterday: 'The heavy equipment is urgently needed to clear roads, and possibly prepare landing strips for aircraft.'

Mr Bachtiar, who visited the Endurance yesterday, said the heavy equipment was vital 'because our transport facilities have been destroyed'.

'We can't bring equipment from Medan or Banda Aceh because road links to this town have been cut off,' he said, referring to Sumatra's two main cities that bore the brunt of the disaster, which has killed an estimated 100,000 in Indonesia.

Also, only one concrete jetty can be used at Meulaboh. But this landing spot cannot accommodate heavy vehicles as it is broken in places and structurally unsound.

Further in, desolation and despair were palpable. The town was a shamble of wrecked wooden huts, with scores of bridges downed and fishing boats tossed 6km inland.

The smell of death still hangs over the city's streets. In the market district, people stepped over the dead to pick pots, pans and clothes from destroyed houses.

Some places have been flattened, with just foundations of homes and businesses left standing and an occasional mosque.

Some of the devastated spots can be reached only by helicopter.

Mr Bachtiar was grateful for the two Chinook helicopters and two Super Pumas that Singapore had provided. He had flown into Meulaboh from Medan on board one of the Chinooks, which also carried 10 generators that will bring electricity to some of the 70 refugee camps.

With him on the trip were Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia Edward Lee; North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin, and other officials.

Mr Bachtiar was briefed by the commander leading Singapore's relief effort in Indonesia, Colonel Tan Chuan-Jin, on board the vessel, which arrived in Meulaboh on Sunday from Singapore with 470 personnel from the SAF, Singapore Civil Defence Force and volunteer doctors and nurses.

Speaking in Bahasa Indonesia, Col Tan said in the past five days, a Hercules C-130 transport plane had been ferrying supplies to Medan.

In Banda Aceh, a medical team is working with the city's medical personnel to treat injured survivors while two Super Puma helicopters ferry food.

These were being accomplished under the first two phases of the relief effort. The third phase involves the Endurance, whose deck had been crowded with 51 trucks, trailers and other heavy equipment. They are being moved ashore swiftly to make way for the Super Pumas to land on the warship to pick up supplies for isolated villages.

Col Tan said more equipment will be brought in when the need arises. He also said the SAF's Joint Humanitarian Assistance Task Force, from the army, navy and the air force, was keen to work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Medan and Meulaboh.

'We understand that some of the relief workers from the NGOs may have language problems. We have liaison officers with the language skills to help them,' he added.

Earlier, on board the Endurance, the miliary faced one of its biggest challenges when it found that the coastline of north-west Sumatra had moved, some parts by as much as several hundred metres.

Said the SAF in its statement later: 'The entire shoreline of Meulaboh had changed drastically due to the tsunami and severe flooding.'

The difference became obvious soon after the divers from SAF's Naval Diving Unit scouted murky waters along the Meulaboh coastline for suitable spots for the ship's landing craft. Some of the spots they marked out with buoys were nowhere to be seen on the charts.

Manoeuvring the warship is also tricky. Lieutenant-Colonel Li Lit Siew, the warship's commanding officer, had to balance his desire to bring the ship close to shore with the need to ensure the Endurance does not venture far from deeper water.

He said: 'We want to be close to the 200m depth. According to recommendations from seismic experts, being at this depth minimises impact to the ship should a tsunami occur.'

A small team on board is on 'tsunami watch' in case aftershocks trigger more tidal surges. If so, the warship will head towards deeper water where it is safe.

This was the magnitude of the task facing the Endurance.

But once the safe routes were identified, a pair of landing craft, propelled by water jets, took the bulldozers ashore for SAF's combat engineers to clear a path inland.

Also, 45 combat engineers from the Endurance went ashore to clear the beach of obstacles and sea junk. Said Col Tan: 'One of the challenges is the lack of landing points and the danger from submerged obstacles and debris, which prevents us from projecting our assets ashore.'

Most of the work to build the landing points were done by hand because the earth-moving equipment, such as bulldozers and excavators, could not be taken ashore.

Combat engineers filled 700 sandbags to build the landing sites, and by late afternoon one landing point was ready to take a bulldozer to help the soldiers cut a path further inland.

The significance of the event was not lost on Mr Bachtiar.

Seeing the number of vehicles and the 350 pallets and crates filled with relief on board the Endurance, he said: 'Our navy doesn't have the equipment you have on your ships. But the equipment from Singapore is good equipment. It will help us solve the disaster in Meulaboh.'

Jan 4, 2005
BANDA ACEH
Singapore Armed Forces medical team helps town get back on its feet

By Azhar Ghani

BANDA ACEH - THE lone Indonesian doctor in a clinic here was so stretched in the days just after the tsunamis battered the town that she had to rope in three of her younger sisters who are not medically trained.

Dr Quratul Aini, 41, lives just behind the government clinic in Banda Aceh's Jalan Ulee Kareng. When she rushed to the clinic after Dec 26, the day the killer waves hit, she found herself all alone.

She mobilised her sisters to help out as much as they could, until three nurses returned. She still does not know what happened to the clinic's other doctors and nurses.

But since Friday, the clinic has had help from a medical team from the Singapore Armed Forces. The team of nine - three doctors, a nursing officer, five medics and two drivers - arrives each day from its base in the Banda Aceh airport to help Dr Quratul's depleted team tend to an average of 125 patients daily.

The SAF medical relief mission led by Lieutenant-Colonel Tay Boon Khai comprises 25 men and women. Included in it is a 13-strong medical team led by Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Fan Swee Weng. Since yesterday, a volunteer team of four - two doctors and two nurses - from Singapore's Raffles Medical Group has also been chipping in.

Dr Quratul said: 'I don't know what I would do without them. My staff and I were working ourselves into the ground in the first few days tending to people who flooded in. With everyone so hassled, it was chaotic.'

Acehnese Marwan Raja, 54, who was waiting for his wife to be treated for an infected wound on her knee, added: 'We're very grateful to the Singaporean team. Without them, most of the sick and wounded would have to wait much longer to get treatment.'

Since the arrival of the Singaporeans, the situation at the clinic has been more orderly, beginning with the setting up of a queue-number system. Patients - most of whom live in the area or are staying in the nearby shelter set up at a mosque - stream into the clinic compound after a loudspeaker announces its opening. Indonesian armed guards are stationed at the gate, both for the sake of security as well as to make sure that the daily quota of patients is strictly enforced.

Families, young children and babies in their mothers' arms can be seen streaming into the clinic throughout the day. But most patients tend to be adults requiring primary health care, said the medical team's second-in-charge, Major Chong Si Jack, 29.

The Singaporean team gets to work around 9.30am, bringing in enough medical supplies to last the day. First Warrant Officer Allan Goh, a 42-year-old paramedic who is in charge of coordinating the stores and daily set-up, said: 'We bring in fresh supplies each day to ensure that they don't fall into the wrong hands.'

There has been at least one unconfirmed report of the Free Aceh Movement separatist rebels attacking the bases of medical teams to poach their supplies. The SAF team has asked that the armed escort provided by the Indonesian army be beefed up, said Major Chong.

Of the patients, 40 per cent turn up with infected wounds, while another 10 per cent are diarrhoeal cases.

The clinic stops operating at about 3pm, but the SAF's work is far from over. Back at their base camp, they get a two-hour rest period, from 6pm to 8pm, before attending a daily briefing by mission commander Tay. After that, they pack medical supplies until about 10pm in preparation for the next day's operations.

Although there is mobile phone coverage in the airport area, where the team is based, the network gets congested fast. So Lt-Col Tay has allowed his team the use of the mission's satellite phone for calls home, said Maj Chong. He added: 'We don't know how long we'll be here, so opening up the use of the satellite phone is a very much appreciated gesture.'

In addition to the medical supplies brought by the SAF team, the team from the Raffles Medical Group, led by Dr Andre Leong, has also brought in 250kg of its own stock. Dr Leong said that the small team, which is expected to leave in a week, is serving as the organisation's eye on the ground. 'We'll assess the sort of supplies or aid needed and feed back home,' he added.

His team is based just outside the airport grounds along with another Singaporean team from Buddhist associations Renci and Code 4. Among those in the Renci-Code 4 team is MP Ong Seh Hong, the medical director of Renci Hospital, one of the two doctors on the four-men team. They are working together with an Indonesian Buddhist organisation that has set up a relief centre providing medical services, and even food and drinks, in several tents just outside the airport grounds.

Meanwhile, Banda Aceh is slowly getting its act together. A road that leads to the coast has been largely cleared of mud and debris, allowing corpse evacuation trucks to move in. Shops that are not close to the devastated areas have opened up for business, while markets selling fresh produce are also open.

With help from the international community, including Singapore, Banda Aceh is slowly climbing back onto its feet.

More Chinook copters to boost SAF work in Indonesia

They carry more and fly farther, a boon as team knuckles down
By Goh Chin Lian

SINGAPORE'S largest ever humanitarian relief effort swelled yesterday when four more heavy-lift Chinook helicopters took off for Medan. Today, a second navy vessel and a helicopter landing ship loaded with engineering and medical equipment will set sail for Aceh.

Expected to make the biggest difference in the Singapore Armed Force's (SAF) relief operation are the Chinooks, as they can take four times more load than the medium-lift helicopters that are available in the disaster area, and they fly further.

The Banda Aceh area had no heavy-lift helicopters until Singapore sent two of them last week. They delivered the first large batches of relief supplies to Meulaboh, days after last Sunday's earthquake and tsunami destroyed the town and the land access to it.

In the week ahead, more volunteer surgeons from hospitals here are expected to beef up an SAF field clinic there, turning it into a temporary hospital.

But medical needs are still the most pressing. Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said yesterday that SAF doctors already on the ground in Meulaboh report a situation that is 'quite desperate...from a medical point of view'. The team has treated 450 patients so far.

Mr Teo is scheduled to visit Medan, Meulaboh and Banda Aceh today to see for himself the situation in Sumatra, where Singapore has focused its relief efforts. He plans to touch base with Indonesian officials to 'make sure that what we are providing to them is helpful...to see how best we can fit in with their overall aid effort'.

'We're working hand in hand with them, as closely as possible, to see how we can leverage off each other's capabilities to bring relief as quickly as possible,' he told reporters after sending off 41 SAF officers and crew with the Chinooks at Sembawang Airbase yesterday.

Indonesian Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah, who is in charge of relief work in western Sumatra, and military officials have made an urgent request for more helicopters able to lift heavy loads to disaster areas, he added.

Mr Teo said the SAF is also ready to deploy two to four more medium-lift Super Puma helicopters if these are required. There are already two in Indonesia.

The United Nations has identified facilities that can operate offshore as an urgent need too, he added. This would require ships capable of supporting helicopters.

The RSS Persistence, one of the Singapore navy's largest class of vessel with a landing pad for helicopters, is expected to arrive off the coast of Meulaboh on Thursday evening. It will also deliver more engineering and medical equipment.

The RSS Endurance, another helicopter landing ship that arrived in the area on Sunday, delivered a second medical team yesterday and made 'a major breakthrough' with the Indonesian military in the afternoon by establishing a landing site - and another access route - to Meulaboh.

The Defence Ministry said the operation was difficult as the tsunami and severe flooding had changed the entire shoreline drastically.

Bulldozers and excavators were due to be unloaded yesterday. This will allow SAF engineers there to open up roads and, possibly, provide landing strips for aircraft to deliver aid.

A Norwegian Air Force C-130 transport plane, working for the International Red Cross, and the US Air Force will be using Paya Lebar Air Base as a staging point for relief work, following Singapore's offer to open up its air and naval bases for such work.

In Phuket, the two Chinooks there were due to return to Singapore yesterday, leaving behind two Super Pumas for ferrying people and supplies.

Singapore medical team faces daunting task

Surgeon treats ghastly wounds in bare conditions at hospital in Aceh
By Salma Khalik
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

THE child screamed as the doctor stitched the huge gash in her head. Such a major operation is always done under general anaesthesia - except in Banda Aceh.

'What we did was against our basic training. There was no sterility - we were using the same instruments on different patients; we were operating on patients who were screaming in pain.

'But all of us (doctors) knew we had to do it or the patients would die,' said Singaporean surgeon Francis Seow-Choen.

He and a nurse, who arrived in Aceh at 2am last Wednesday, were the first foreign medical aid to get to the quake-stricken zone, said the Indonesian doctors working there.

They were the medically trained personnel in a seven-member City Harvest Community Services team that left Singapore for Medan early Tuesday morning. Six of them made the arduous overland journey to Aceh in two cars.

They had a tough job getting in. Security was tight as insurgents were still attacking. And they had to pay a 100,000 rupiah (S$17) fee to get each foreigner into Aceh to help the quake victims.

Their drivers were at first unwilling to drive through the forested hills through the night for fear of attacks, but agreed because of the urgent need to bring help.

It took them about 13 hours to navigate the narrow winding shore road to Aceh.

Arriving at 2am, they slept in the cars. It was only when the sun came up that the enormity of the damage hit home.

Dr Seow-Choen said: 'There were hundreds of bodies by the road, thousands clogging the river, packed close like dead fish or logs. There were cars on rooftops with rigid bodies hanging in the air.'

They called Pastor Aries Zulkarnain, their team leader, who had stayed in Medan to coordinate relief efforts, and asked for more supplies. He filled a 15 tonne-truck with food, drinks and medicine and sent it the same day.

In Aceh, the group drove around looking for a hospital. They found Rumah Kesehatan Tentera, a military hospital on high ground and the only one which was not destroyed.

When they offered to help, the general in charge said they already had a lot of doctors who had come from other parts of Indonesia.

But when Dr Seow-Choen walked into the only operating theatre, the attending surgeon greeted him with relief and asked if the Singaporeans could take over - he and his team had been operating non-stop for so long they were dead on their feet.

In the three days they were there, Dr Seow-Choen did almost 50 operations.

One man had intestines perforated in two places and faeces all over his insides. They managed to save him. Other injuries were as ghastly.

'There were huge festering wounds, exposed bone, a woman had a smashed eyeball, another was 'scalped' and we could see his brain,' he recalled.

He had to stop operating by evening because the man working the generator was so tired, he had gone off. The soldiers, who helped sweep the blood, pus and faeces off the floor of the operating theatre, were also too tired to carry on.

The team then checked on patients who had been treated. It was lucky they did, for the drips had come off some while others were running high fevers.

One girl, about 10 years old, had water in her lungs and was gasping for breath. 'Here, it would be easy to save her. There, we couldn't intubate her. I told her father there was nothing we could do. She died a few hours later.'

Then they helped the Indonesian soldiers in the hospital set up a kitchen that night and distributed food to patients, who had not eaten for days - rice with watered down sardines, and plain noodles.

They finally called it a day at 5am. Barely two-and-a-half hours later, they were rudely awakened by the building shaking violently. It was another tremor.

Since they were up, they started work.

With Indonesian and Swedish doctors who had just arrived, they set up a temporary clinic in the office of a sub-mayor. Within the hour, more than 100 people were queuing up. By the evening, the crowd had swelled to about 1,500 patients.

They operated with just local anaesthesia. It was not enough to deaden the pain for a boy who had a big patch of gangrene on his leg that had to be cleaned out. 'There was so much pus...it just kept oozing out. But he was very stoic.'

Another man's arm was so badly hurt that the whole elbow bone was exposed. Others had glass, wood and mud in their wounds.

'Even after being treated, they could die in the next two weeks of gangrene, tetanus or blood poison,' Dr Seow-Choen said. But it wasn't the sick, or even the dead bodies everywhere, that took their toll on the team.

'It's the smell of decomposing bodies, of days-old blood, of faeces and urine that kills you. You can shut your eyes to the bodies, but you can't shut out the smell,' said Dr Seow-Choen.

Mr Bobby Chaw, another team member, threw all his clothes away. Even laundering them could not get the smell of death out, he said.

The team noticed there were no flies on the first two days. 'It was like they had all been killed in the tsunami. But the day we left, flies could be seen everywhere.'

A second team from City Harvest arrived on Saturday with more food, medicine and body bags to take over from the first group, which left on Friday night.

But getting out was just as difficult. Pastor Aries had chartered a plane to send in more food and to take the team out, but it was unable to land at Aceh airport because of attacks by the separatists.

So they made the long overland trip again, arriving in Singapore in the wee hours of yesterday morning.

Just read the last post, my gosh it is just very horrific. if the man has to thrown out his clothes, shows how thick the smell of the corpses over there...

:bash:

The signature of Medan01 says I am in mourning. From afar, so am I.

The daily pictures of devastation and human suffering I see on TV are hard to take. How much harder it must be for those directly affected! Unimaginable misery. :(

Jan 6, 2005
LETTER FROM INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR
Thank you, Singapore

Envoy expresses appreciation for generosity shown by Singaporeans
By Karamjit Kaur

IN A letter addressed 'To the people of Singapore', Indonesian Ambassador Mochamad Slamet Hidayat thanked Singaporeans for their 'generous and spontaneous' response in helping the victims of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia.

Since the Dec 26 tragedy, the Indonesian Embassy here has received more than 150 tonnes of goods, including medical supplies, food and clothes, he said in the note, which was released to the media. The first shipment of aid was sent to Medan on Dec 30.

So far, Singaporeans and Indonesians living here have also donated more than $150,000 to fund relief efforts, the ambassador said.

He added: 'As ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia and on behalf of the people of Indonesia...I would like to extend my utmost appreciation to the people of Singapore for their solidarity, sympathy as well as their generosity and continued support in our efforts to help the victims and rebuild the province of Aceh...'

To ensure that the donations received are channelled to the right people, the embassy set up a collection centre at its Chatsworth Road grounds so staff can coordinate packing and shipping. When The Straits Times visited the embassy yesterday afternoon, volunteers were busy moving the packed goods - biscuits, water and medical supplies - to containers and vans.

The head of the embassy's information, press and cultural section, Mr Widayat Rahmanto, said: 'The goods will be flown to Medan by the SAF and Garuda. From there, arrangements will be made for the supplies to be delivered to Aceh.'

He, too, thanked Singaporeans who have come forward to help. He said: 'We had a lot of people walking in to donate clothes and other supplies the first few days after the disaster. We stopped collecting clothes a few days ago, so now, we get fewer people coming, but they are still mailing us cheques.'

Some Singaporeans have also offered to pitch in with the packing of the goods, he said, adding: 'They just came to the embassy and said they wanted to help.' Indonesian Embassy staff and their families, as well as Indonesians studying, working and living here, have also come forward to help.

A Singaporean reporter's tale in Aceh, Indonesia...

Jan 6, 2005
Amid the destruction, pockets of hope in Aceh

Situation feels less grim; there is a spirit of common purpose among relief teams
By Zuraidah Ibrahim
POLITICAL EDITOR

'PREPARE yourselves,' advised Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean when we were in Medan en route to Meulaboh. 'Psychologically,' he added in a sombre voice.

Aboard our Chinook helicopter, two hours later, we knew preparation time had run out when beautiful blue waters hugging the coast gave way suddenly to ugly brown gashes and claws that scratched deep into the land. Once-tall river reeds lay splayed in shock on the ground, yellowing now, and once-green padi fields had turned into huge trays of cakey oily mud. Over here, and over there, settlements had been pulverised into mounds of matchsticks and rusting zinc.

How far and high did the waters rise? Coconut trees further inland from the rotting beaches held the answer. Their lowest leaves were bleached yellow.

Travelling with the Prime Minister during his 16-hour tour of northern Sumatra on Tuesday, we were to glimpse such scenes of devastation several more times along the 300km or so of coastline. On the ground, we met the homeless in the flesh, drove past the dead in their mass graves or disintegrating somewhere in the rotting rubble, lives and livelihoods all destroyed when that one morning the land was raped by the sea.

But somehow, on the ground too, it had begun to taste a little less grim. Maybe it was the passing of the days, but tentative signs of life were returning in places such as Meulaboh, where we stayed for nearly three hours, and in Banda Aceh where relief workers were gathering momentum in the healing and rebuilding process.

As the sages say, the human spirit in the end recovers. Slowly, perhaps, but it recovers.

And so it was when we landed in an Indonesian military (TNI) camp just outside Meulaboh, children were running about in the courtyard, teasing the soldiers and testing their patience. Some had lost their homes and siblings, one soldier told me. The Indonesian district commander in the town, Colonel Geerhan Lantara, who had lost his home and many of his men, could toss in a quip when giving Mr Lee an account of the disaster.

'In my haste, I forgot my underpants that morning,' he said as he recounted how that Sunday, at 7.58am, the earth beneath their coastal port town shook and buildings buckled, trapping people underneath. As the TNI's ambulances were speeding to their rescue, 50 minutes later, a huge wave rolled in and receded as abruptly. A second wave struck. All of this was captured on video which was played for Mr Lee. The third wave ended the videotaping.

'That police van you see there on the street?' he said, pointing to the screen. 'Now, it lies somewhere in the sea.'

When the earth rumbled, at the TNI camp near Teuku Umar beach, Dr Khairul Shah, 38, scrambled into his clinic to prepare for victims. They never arrived. What did were galloping waves that forced him out of the place. He swam and survived. His house a few doors away retained only its concrete foundations. Everything else is gone.

'There, there was my home,' he said as we walked towards the beach, the calm waters betraying none of their earlier wrath. 'Ngapa,' he said, using the Indonesian equivalent of 'never mind'. 'We just rebuild.'

All he was wistful about was how he was now paperless. No pictures, no letters from his family in Jakarta, none of his books, not even his medical certificate. 'Lost my identity,' he said. 'This was once beautiful,' he told me, nodding at the beach, probably replaying in his mind's eye happier times.

This was just one of several tales of paradise lost I tried to absorb during those 16 hours trailing Mr Lee and his team.

We started out at 7am from Changi Airbase, flying first to Medan to see the relief supplies centre there, then off to the Meulaboh area, some 240km up north, and finally to Banda Aceh, 320km further up on the coast. So packed was the programme that there were no meal breaks at all, save for water, until we boarded a Fokker for home at 9pm in Medan.

In Meulaboh, where the Singapore Armed Forces were the first in to the cut-off town with their heavy-duty Chinooks, Mr Lee and Mr Teo boarded a truck after asking Col Geerhan questions in Bahasa. We followed behind in a bus, snaking our way down what was once the pride of the town, the main street of Jalan Nasional Meulaboh. Starting from one end, there were shops selling spinach and chillies mostly. This part bore few signs of damage.

Then, as the bus turned a corner, everyone grew silent. On both sides of the pathway stood staggering piles of broken wood, mattresses, twisted steel, books, toys, pillows, pots, bicycles, every one of life's necessities and luxuries. All melded together, they seemed like decaying offerings to the rapacious waves. Usaha Famili, closed. Mulia Motor, closed. Pak Klous - 'come here for comics and novels' - closed. Mutiara Menang, closed. Almost all the shops were shuttered. Shops that weren't had owners poking about quietly for remnants of their past. Still, many waved at us. Others went up to Mr Lee when he was at the field hospital set up by the army camp, wanting to greet him and shake his hand.

As we made our way back to a landing strip, I spotted one other shop sign: 'Singapore. Originil.' It was closed too, so there was no way of knowing what it sold. But what a brand Singapore must be in these parts for this town to have a store boasting its name.

Indeed, this was the other set of stories I was to encounter later, of attempts at paradise regained, you might say.

Like from Second Sergeant Yeo Boon Hock, 21, whose army buddies immediately crowded round him and slapped him on his back after Mr Lee had stopped to chat with him. What was his role there, I asked him. 'Help to clear things,' said the boyish full-time NSman. 'It was okay,' said Chinook pilot Major L. F. Foo when I asked him what it was like evacuating a small boy with injuries. Matter-of-fact replies like that do not make good copy, but they were typical of what I heard from Singaporeans.

And boy, were there many Singaporeans that I bumped into.

In Banda Aceh, someone tapped me on the back. It turned out to be an old pal from my days at the now-defunct civil society group, The Roundtable. Harish, vocal government critic and one-time aspiring Nominated MP. Not quite the establishment sort of guy you would expect in a government-led initiative.

What was he doing there? 'My wife also asked me that,' he joked. 'Just contribute, lah,' said the SCDF reservist personnel. 'Take pictures, carry things. Anything, I can do, I do.'

At every stop during his tour, Mr Lee made it a point to chat with men like Harish. 'Called home yet?' he asked the tired-looking SCDF men at Banda Aceh. Tongue-tied, all they could muster were shy smiles and nods. 'Satellite phone?' he tried again. The replies came in nods and grins.

The team of doctors and medics nearby which had treated the wounded had their tales to share. One or two even put up their hands for a chance to speak to Mr Lee.

For me, it became a reunion of sorts with Singaporeans I had known in earlier lives. There was Harish. Then there was Zulkifli, an SCDF captain, then someone from schooldays, now a brigadier-general, and another from my husband's, also a BG.

What had brought these people to these places? For some it was part of official work, others rushed to volunteer. But everywhere they displayed a spirit of common purpose.

There was also that unmistakably Singaporean penchant for planning, systems, results. No excavators? No problem, we'll land a ship tank and bring some across. That is what the RSS Endurance has been doing.

What, the PM is visiting the ship tomorrow? Let's do a Powerpoint presentation. In between the coordination work he was overseeing, Singapore commander of the joint humanitarian assistance taskforce Colonel Tan Chuan-Jin reeled off the presentation coolly like he was in a lecture hall, not ground zero.

Medical teams finding it hard to operate? Set up a hospital that can do surgery. No water in the village? Get a mobile reverse osmosis unit, which was gurgling away less than a day after being rolled out from the ship tank. '500 litres of water an hour,' Defence Minister Teo said to me as he pointed out the water plant.

Yes, there was that other Singaporean penchant for precise numbers too. 450 patients treated, 1,000 tonnes of supplies dropped today, five victims with respiratory tract infection and so on.

It occurred to me that the organisational strengths of Singapore, cultivated over the years, have been about the most useful trait we have to show not just in pursuing our capitalist dreams, but also now in our compassionate deeds. 'It's our responsibility,' said PM Lee when asked about the extent of help rendered.

Amid the destruction and the rebuilding that will take many, many more hands than Singapore's alone, this Singaporean suddenly found an unaccustomed sense of pride at being one.

Prepare yourselves? Always.

Jan 6, 2005

Singapore helicopter helps clear runway

ONE of Singapore's Chinook helicopters yesterday played a 'significant role' in reopening the Banda Aceh airport, closed after a Boeing 737 reportedly hit a buffalo on the runway.

The transport helicopter, one of six Chinooks now in Sumatra, brought in special lifting equipment from the city of Medan to Banda Aceh to remove the plane that was obstructing the main runway.

This enabled the airport to reopen after about three hours instead of three days as initially assessed, the Defence Ministry said in its daily information update about its relief efforts in the region.

The closure had stopped relief flights from landing at the airport in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province and the hub of relief efforts there.

A broken wheel caused the Jakarta-based TRI-MG airfreight firm's Boeing to block the runway, according to reports.

In yesterday's update, Mindef said that the SAF continued to focus its relief efforts to meet 'very critical needs' in Meulaboh, the town hardest hit in the region.

'Thousands of people are cut off from food, water and medical treatment. Accessibility is still a major problem,' the update said.

Since the SAF established two landing sites on Monday, most of the engineering equipment has gone ashore and clearing of debris to open access roads is under way.

The RSAF, which also has four of the smaller Super Puma helicopters and two helicopter landing ships in Sumatra, has flown about 120 relief missions to carry aid and relief workers from Medan to Banda Aceh and Meulaboh.

'We assisted the Public Utilities Board to airlift a water-purification unit and 30,000 litres of water into Meulaboh yesterday. Two water-desalination plants will be brought into this area in the next few weeks.'

In Thailand, the SAF is helping the authorities and relief agencies by providing air transport.

Air Force Chief Major-General Lim Kim Choon yesterday visited Phuket for a day, meeting RSAF personnel supporting the deployment of two Super Puma helicopters.

He flew over the Khao Lak area for a first-hand view of the disaster area, and he will also meet the Commander of the 3rd Naval Area Fleet of the Royal Thai Navy, Vice-Admiral Thana Bunnak.

DoD Relief Efforts Factsheet Summary
SUPPORT TO DATE (As of 9 January 2005)

The Department of Defense is providing assistance to the governments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other affected nations as they deal with the effects of the earthquake and tsunami.


U.S. Pacific Command Graphic Display of Assets
(Click for full size)
http://www.pacom.mil/special/0412asia/images/050109map-f.jpg (http://www.pacom.mil/special/0412asia/images/050109map-h.jpg)

SUPPORT TO DATE: There are 14,214 U.S. Navy, Marine, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard service members involved in providing relief support.

Currently on Ground: 2,427
Thailand 1,412
Sri Lanka 476
Indonesia 311
Malaysia 164
Currently Afloat: 11,851

AIRCRAFT:
6 C-5 Heavy Lift cargo aircraft
3 C-17 Heavy Lift cargo aircraft
4 C-2 Medium Lift cargo aircraft
21 C-130 Medium Lift cargo aircraft
8 P-3 Reconnaissance aircraft
2 KC-135 Medium Lift/refueling aircraft
50 helicopters are in the region
- 17 helicopters from USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group
- 22 helicopters from USS BONHOMME RICHARD Expeditionary Strike Group
- 3 helicopters from USS DULUTH
- 8 land-based helicopters

SHIPS:
25 U.S. Navy ships
1 U.S. Coast Guard vessel

(Cumulative Totals)
Missions flown

Recon Assessment
46

Fixed wing
451
(793.5 hours)

Helicopters
282
(1062.8 hours)

Relief supplies and equipment delivered to region
TOTAL:
5,969,220 lbs

Combined Support Force 536 (CSF-536) level of effort in the last 24 hours:
25,704 gallons of water / 12,000 lbs of food / 17,600 lbs of supplies (non-medicine))

NUMBER OF PATIENTS TREATED TO DATE:
- 143

We are only glad to help in whatever way we can....

Media thanks nations for help

Singapore acknowledged for relief and summit initiative, US and Australia also praised

By Devi Asmarani
Indonesia Correspondent

JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S media has been recording the contributions of the countries, including Singapore, that have been helping out in the relief efforts in tsunami-stricken areas. They praised and thanked the nations for their generous response.

Several mainstream newspapers and websites carried reports of Singapore's efforts in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, running with them pictures of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong getting a first-hand look at the devastation.

Singapore's initiation of the international summit on Thursday was also acknowledged.

Koran Tempo daily, of the leading Tempo group, touched on the urgency with which Singapore went about its business. It quoted Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab as saying: 'We have seen it all, how Singapore deploys its heavy equipment to help the recovery in Meulaboh.'

By sending in the RSS Endurance helicopter landing ship and a Singapore Armed Forces team of engineers and medics, Singapore had shown its seriousness in the relief efforts, the paper reported.

Other papers like the Islamic-oriented Republika and Media Indonesia also gave column space to Singapore - carrying pictures of PM Lee visiting the SAF team in Banda Aceh during his trip there.

In its editorial on Wednesday, Media Indonesia, one of the top five national newspapers, said Singapore's role had been crucial not just in providing emergency relief assistance, but also in getting the international support to speed up aid to countries affected by the tsunamis. 'As of yesterday, PM Lee Hsien Loong was the only head of state who has seen with his own eyes the devastation in Aceh,' it said.

The paper acknowledged that Thursday's summit attended by 26 delegations from donor countries and organisations, as well as affected countries, was Singapore's initiative. That the island was made the hub of international relief programmes for rehabilitation and reconstruction showed the high level of trust the world had in the Republic, it added.

Other countries like the United States and Australia also received positive coverage for their efforts, with the papers using prominently pictures of US Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

In its editorial on Thursday, the country's only English newspaper, The Jakarta Post, thanked all - from donor countries to individuals - for helping Indonesia. The powers of nature had humbled the Indonesian people, the paper said, 'but we are even more humbled by the generosity shown by the people all around the world'.

Singapore gets relief to area most cut off from aid

Local knowledge helped S'pore to set up relief hub at worst-hit Indonesian town
By Barry Wain

MEULABOH (INDONESIA) - WHEN Asia's huge earthquake and accompanying tsunami hammered Indonesia, major donor countries rushed relief supplies to Jakarta or provincial capitals near the disaster zone.

But Singapore, Indonesia's tiny but wealthy neighbour, targeted this town of about 50,000 people nearest the epicentre of the catastrophe off the isolated west coast of Aceh province.

Using its local knowledge and close contacts with the Indonesian military, Singapore's armed forces concluded that what remained of the coastal towns and villages would be out of reach of most of the food, clothing and medicines pouring in from abroad.

The solution: Dispatch a Navy landing ship packed with motor vehicles, earth-moving equipment and its own smaller landing craft to establish an aid beachhead for an area where all infrastructure - roads, landing strips and harbours - had been obliterated.

The strategy paid off this week when Singapore army engineers and navy divers secured two landing sites on the still-shifting shoreline to enable the ship to start unloading bulldozers, mechanical shovels and forklifts to begin heavy-duty relief work.

The breakthrough will allow Meulaboh to become a hub for restoration work along Aceh's west coast, where tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed. 'The bridge has been established,' said Mr Alwi Shihab, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare, who heads the country's national recovery effort.

Singapore's performance shows that even when a huge natural disaster requires a massive and costly response, pinpointed doses of limited aid can yield disproportionate benefits.

A small city-state with a developed economy whose success is both envied and resented by nearby countries, Singapore anticipated a potential flaw in international relief operations.

Vast quantities of aid meant for victims in Aceh were flown to Banda Aceh, the ravaged provincial capital, and to the city of Medan to the south. But there was no way of getting that aid to the stricken communities on the west coast, which lacked access roads or useable harbours or airstrips.

As Singapore 'lacks the resources of a China or India', Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on a visit to the area on Tuesday, it decided to act on its geographic advantage. 'We studied the maps and realised what the problems would be,' said Singapore's Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Knowledge of the terrain helped: the Singapore Armed Forces has joined the Indonesian Navy over the years in carrying out civic projects such as providing dental care and repairing community facilities around Meulaboh, which is 50km north of the earthquake's epicentre.

A critical problem was - and remains - that Meulaboh and other towns along the west coast have been virtually cut off from the outside world since the quake and tsunami struck.

Roads are impassable, with bridges destroyed and large sections washed away or blocked by landslides and trees. Meulaboh's only airstrip is cracked and scarred, making it impossible for fixed-wing aircraft to land safely. As a result, supplies are piling up in Banda Aceh and Medan.

At Indonesia's request, Singapore deployed heavy- and medium-lift military helicopters to open a supply pipeline. But, like American Seahawk helicopters launched from the USS Lincoln, they can carry only the most urgent supplies and personnel, such as medicines and medical staff. It takes each helicopter hours to fly the round trip from Banda Aceh or Medan.

In Meulaboh, meanwhile, the 20km road from the battered airstrip to the city is becoming unsafe, which means landing sites need to be prepared for helicopters closer to town.

To meet these challenges, Singapore decided to send a 6,000-tonne landing ship, with heavy equipment and trucks and its own fuel supplies, and a special deck from which helicopters can operate.

The vessel arrived off Meulaboh on Sunday, but met logistical nightmares securing a beachhead to begin discharging its cargo. For a start, the ship had to weigh the need to get close to shore against the advantage of staying in deep water in case another tsunami struck.

Even establishing exactly where the shoreline is wasn't easy. The Singaporeans found that the coastline of north-west Sumatra island had shifted, by several hundred metres in some places. 'What we have on radar doesn't match what we see on our charts,' said one navy officer.

Most obvious landing sites had been swept away. The one surviving concrete jetty was judged unsafe for supporting heavy vehicles. Navy divers scoured the murky waters looking for a practical place to drive its vehicles ashore and into town.

By Tuesday, however, the Singaporeans had established a beachhead and were using excavators and mechanical shovels to shift tonnes of debris - battered cars, smashed fishing boats, concrete blocks piled metres deep - to give themselves a base to enter the city.

In the bay, a Singaporean ship lay at anchor, producing 500 litres of drinking water an hour. A Singaporean engineer was making an assessment of the airport to see what was required to get it back in operation. Alternative helicopter landing pads had been identified in town, and some were already in use.

Supplies are now moving into Meulaboh at 20 times the rate before the landing ship arrived. And a second landing ship is on the way from Singapore. 'It means it is possible to get the heavy equipment in now,' said Mr Alwi.

Nine days after the disaster struck, some fruit and vegetable markets were starting to open again, he said. 'People are picking up.'

Mr Alwi said Meulaboh would become a second hub, with Banda Aceh, for recovery efforts on the west coast. -- ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL

:(

Indonesia pulls the plug on foreigners
By Matthew Moore, Herald Correspondent in Banda Aceh, and agencies
January 13, 2005

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Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla.
Photo: AFP
Indonesia's Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, said yesterday that foreigners should get out of Aceh as soon as possible. "Three months are enough. The sooner [they leave], the better," he said.

Mr Kalla said Indonesians, not foreign troops, should take charge of caring for the 400,000 or so people who lost their homes to the tsunami. When asked about long-term relief efforts, he said: "We don't need foreign troops."

His comments come on top of those from the cabinet secretary, Sudi Silalahi, who told journalists in Jakarta that aid workers and troops should begin leaving next month.

"It's not proper for us to keep on relying on overseas aid," he said. "If it is possible, starting from February 26 will be a transition period, and on March 26 we can handle all of this independently."

Mr Silalahi said the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had issued instructions about the timetable for soldiers to leave the province after two of the major parties in the parliament - Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party - demanded he set a deadline by next week.

A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said yesterday that he had not seen the statements but Australian troops would not stay "a day longer than they were wanted".

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Advertisement"No decisions have been taken on the length of time of the deployment," he said.

"All decisions about the deployment will be taken in a co-operative fashion with the Indonesian Government."

Yesterday's remarks came after restrictions imposed by the Government that forbade all foreigners, including soldiers and aid workers, going anywhere outside the two most affected towns without specific military permission.

Mr Kalla and the head of the military, General Endriartono Sutarto, have said in recent days that Banda Aceh and Meulaboh in the west are the only two towns considered safe enough by the military for aid workers to travel independently.

In a related development, the senior minister in charge of the aid effort, Alwi Shihab, ordered international aid groups and reporters to inform the Government of their travel plans outside Banda Aceh.

"It is important to note that the Government would be placed in a very difficult position if any foreigner who came to Aceh to assist in the aid effort was harmed through the acts of irresponsible parties," the statement said, in an apparent reference to possible attacks by rebel fighters (GAM).

"Such an event would severely hamper the humanitarian effort, which remains the Government's first priority, and would distract officials from their focus on providing relief."

Asked if it was possible groups could be expelled from Aceh if they disregarded the order, Mr Shihab said: "I think that is one possibility."

Both the Australian Red Cross and international aid agency CARE said it was too early to say if the new requirements to register would slow down aid delivery. "When we hear that, we all automatically get concerned. But this is a conflict zone and there might be elements to the Government's concern," CARE's country director, Bud Crandall, said.

The new warnings come as about 400 Australian soldiers and sailors are about to arrive on HMAS Kanimbla to begin engineering works repairing bridges and roads.

They will bring Australian troop numbers to about 900, far fewer than the 6000 from the US in the area.

Commander Stephen Woodall has told his crew to expect to stay at least a month.

with Aban Contractor

Hm...so how now? All of us have to leave?

The SBY administration shows their true colors. These first 100 days have been so incredibly disappointing.

THE MONEY
Corruption in Indonesia Is Worrying Aid Groups
By RAYMOND BONNER

Published: January 13, 2005


AKARTA, Jan. 12 - As the United States and other world governments prepare to channel hundreds of millions of aid dollars to the tsunami-ravaged regions of Aceh, Indonesia's culture of corruption has emerged as a major concern.

A daylong seminar Wednesday on corruption here, a joint effort by the United Nations, the Indonesian government and a number of private, nongovernmental groups, reflects the magnitude the problem.

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The first speaker, a government minister, spoke about "Eliminating Corruption Within the Bureaucracy." Then came the attorney general, who spoke about "Eliminating Corruption in the Attorney General's Office," then the chief of police, whose topic was "Eliminating Corruption Within the Police." In the afternoon, the head of the Supreme Court, the minister of justice and the minister of finance spoke about "eliminating corruption" in their jurisdictions.

The corruption here starts at the top. Last Thursday, Monsanto admitted to paying a bribe of $50,000 to a senior official in the Ministry of the Environment in exchange for dropping a requirement for an environmental impact statement. The company was fined $1 million by the United States Department of Justice.

That a public official had been bribed by a foreign company surprises few, if any, here. It is taken for granted that no one does business in Indonesia without paying bribes, routinely disguised as "consultants' fees," to government ministers and heads of agencies, many of whom have retired with hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed in accounts in Singapore and elsewhere.

Even before the tsunami, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general who was elected in September, had promised a campaign against corruption, a promise met with hope, but skepticism, given the entrenched nature of the problem, foremost in the military.

Mr. Yudhoyono has a reputation for being indecisive, but the deluge of aid coming in has forced him to take action to assure donors that it will not be wasted. He is not placing any trust in his government agencies.

Rather, he has turned to a nongovernmental agency, Indonesia Corruption Watch, for help, asking the nonprofit group to set up a program for monitoring the aid to Aceh, said Luky Djani, who is heading up the Aceh project.

The problems will not surface immediately, in the emergency relief phase, said Mr. Djani. Maybe some food or other supplies will be siphoned off by a soldier or corrupt official, but that is minor, he said.

The opportunities for serious theft will come in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, Mr. Djani said, which the government has said will cost about $3 billion. That will create lots of temptations, in a country where there are no conflict of interest laws and government officials have long seen public office as a vehicle for private gain.

Mr. Djani said there were no mechanisms for ensuring that the needs were not inflated by government agencies, local and national, in order to get more money. The Ministry of Health might overstate the number of hospitals needed, the Ministry of Education might call for more schools than needed, he said.

And what if some official says he needs to rebuild about 20 miles of road, how do we know it is not only 100 yards? he asked.

"We don't even know how many refugees there are," he said.

Mr. Djani said that the monitoring project would use volunteers as well as paid staff and that he hoped to have 50 people working in Aceh.

Currently, he said, the project has only about $2,000 on hand and needs about $120,000 to finance its operations for two years. The Asia Foundation and nonprofit groups in the Netherlands and Belgium have offered financial assistance, he said.

Corruption in Indonesia is ingrained and systematic, he said.

For example, to get a driver's license through the normal channels can take five months, which, he said, is how long he has been waiting. But, if you pay $20 or so, you join the express line and get it in one day.

At the land title agency, he said, they have a pricing formula, depending on the size and location of your plot. You can pay in advance or over time, he said.

Civil servants do not earn much, but the opportunities for money under the table are so great that people pay bribes to get the jobs. The most sought-after jobs, in Jakarta's tax office, cost more than $500, he said.

But people consider the money well spent because they earn it back fast, he said, snapping his fingers, usually in less than a year.

Perhaps reflecting the depth of the corruption here, you even have to pay a bribe to get into the police academy, and thousands of dollars to become an officer, Mr. Djani said.

Indonesian Refugees Want Troops to Stay
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Jordanian military doctors treat patients at a clinic inside a refugee camp, while Australian and German troops swarm around the city's main hospital making repairs. The buzz of U.S. military helicopters has become so routine it's now ignored.

Foreign troops have been a key lifeline in the tsunami relief effort — and welcomed warmly in Aceh province despite its history of resistance to outside forces. Though the government says it wants foreign soldiers to leave by March 26, refugees say they hope the troops will stay as long as needed — provided they stick to aid work and don't establish permanent bases.

"If they leave, we will starve," said Syarwan, 27, a tailor who is now crowded with some 45 relatives under a tarp at a survivor camp in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

The government's request this week came alongside new announced restrictions on aid groups and journalists, requiring them to register with authorities and to travel with military escorts if they venture outside the two main cities in Aceh province.

The government has said the rules are for the safety of aid workers in the region, where rebels from the Free Aceh Movement have been fighting for independence since 1976.

The long military campaign has bred distrust of the Indonesian army among locals, who complain of the corruption that would result if the tons of aid flooding into the region isn't monitored closely to ensure fair distribution.

"We can't expect any help from the Indonesian government," said Muhammad Yusuf, 35, another survivor camped out in a settlement that has grown to 4,000 people on the grounds of the local TV station. "We trust the foreign military."

The largest foreign military contingent is the 13,000 Americans. Under the agreement for them to operate here, almost all head back to their ships anchored offshore every evening.

The U.S. presence has raised concerns that they are here to stay, given the vast network of permanent American military outposts around the globe.

"If they really want to help without anything political behind it, why should they leave?" said one 25-year-old woman camped out next to the Singapore clinic, who refused to give her name because she said she didn't want to upset the United States.

She said people worried that Americans "come to help but behind it they want something" — such as building a base.

The province was closed to foreigners before the government allowed them in to help with relief efforts after the Dec. 26 tsunami that left more than 106,000 dead in Indonesia.

Along with aid workers, hundreds of foreign troops have poured into the area — providing key logistics support beyond the means of any relief organization.

But recognizing local sensitivities, none of the arriving soldiers is armed.

"If you carry weapons, you're asking to get shot," said Singapore army Capt. Vincent Yeow, head of a surgical team at a clinic with about 35 troops. Still, the soldiers — located on an Indonesian army base that is also hosting a camp for tsunami survivors — take Indonesian military escorts along when they venture in large groups off the base.

No camouflage is visible anywhere near Lt. Col. Mufadi Atawan, one of 24 Jordanian troops at a clinic inside another refugee camp. The doctors are wearing scrubs and other officers are clothed in normal civilian garb, another nod to Indonesian sensitivities.

Atawan estimated the region would likely need the boosted medical capability for six months. But some of the troops here said their mission would likely be completed by the end of March when the government wants them to leave.

More foreign troops keep arriving. Next to the Singapore clinic, advance troops from a Russian medical unit that arrived Tuesday were setting up tents for a mobile hospital.

Lt. Col. Georgiana Whelan commands more than 160 Australian and New Zealand troops at Banda Aceh's main Zainal Abidin Hospital, where wrecked infant incubators and hospital beds are stacked in the courtyard. She said their mission is open-ended for the moment, and that the soldiers could stay here for weeks or months, if required.

"We've come here with the mind-set that we'll be here as long as they need us," she said.

Pertemuan Gubernur Sedunia 10 Hingga 12 Maret 2005
Isu Bahasan Semakin Terfokus, Peserta Diprediksi Membludak dari Penjuru Dunia

Medan, (Analisa) http://www.analisadaily.com/

Jadwal pertemuan gubernur sedunia yang seyogianya digelar 15 hingga 17 Februari yang diundurkan menjadi 10 hingga 12 Maret 2005 nanti, ternyata lebih berpengaruh positip bagi panitia maupun pelaksanaan pertemuan paling akbar berkelas internasional itu.

Selain program pembahasannya lebih terfokus, jumlah peserta (gubernur) dari berbagai negara di belahan dunia itu dipastikan akan membludak.

“Pengunduran ini memang lebih banyak membawa angin positip bagi kita,” ungkap Ketua Panitia Prof H Syamsul Arifin SH MH didampingi Sekretaris Nurlisa Ginting Kamis (13/1) di Kantor Bapedalda Sumut.

Setidaknya pembahasan yang sebelumnya sudah disiapkan, seperti pembahasan tentang aspek ekonomi, sosial budaya dan aspek lingkungan, akan lebih fokus dengan adanya bencana yang sudah merenggut ribuan nyawa manusia di Aceh.

“Tadinya kita tetap memprogramkan pembahasan tentang lingkungan. Namun, dengan adanya peristiwa itu, persoalan yang akan dibahas dalam pertemuan itu akan semakin tajam,” terang Syamsul yang juga Kepala Bapedalda Sumut itu.

Setidaknya, cara mengantisipasi terjadi gelombang tsunami dengan menghidupkan kembali hutan mangrove (hutan bakau) di kawasan rentan tsunami bisa menjadi salah satu kajian dan isu menarik dibahas dalam pertemuan itu.

Hal positip lainnya sekaligus membuat pihak panitia sedikit khawatir, para peserta yang akan ambil bagian dalam pertemuan akan semakin banyak.

Saat ini mata dunia sedang melihat kondisi masyarakat Aceh yang menjadi korban bencana. “Dan bencana itu sudah menarik perhatian dan simpati mereka untuk memberikan pertolongan apa saja,” timpal Nurlisa.

Jadi pertemuan itu sekaligus sebagai wadah bagi para peserta untuk secara optimal memberikan bantuan kepada para korban.

“Mungkin dalam pertemuan itu nantinya mereka mau menyumbang apa saja demi mengantisipasi bencana serupa di masa datang,” tegas Nurlisa Ginting yang juga Wakil Kepala Badan Investasi dan Promosi Provinsi Sumut.

Selain dihadiri gubernur sedunia, pertemuan yang menghabiskan biaya sebesar Rp 8 milyar dan digelar di Medan, Prapat dan Brastagi itu akan dihadiri forum pemerintah, akademisi, forum bisnis, pelaku bisnis, LSM dan akademisi dari kedua pemerintahan yang sudah maju maupun sedang berkembang dari penjuru dunia. (mc)

I am back

Conclusion from this Military fiasco thing...Foreign and Indonesian military are doing really great job there. Seriously, if there is no military presence there, aid workers cant do anything to help.

I rode Bell-412 for the 1st time there :D

Pics coming soon.

cheers

Welcome back david!!!!!!
I wish I can be there to help too!!!

Awesome David-80. Thanks for being a good person and volunteering.

Indonesia raises tsunami death toll to 166,320: Reuters

(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING)

Indonesia's Health Ministry raised the country's death toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami to 166,320 on Wednesday, pushing the total number of people killed in the disaster above 225,000, Reuters news agency reports.

A Health Ministry statement said the new figure was based on latest reports from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly in the path of the killer tsunami spawned by a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake, according to the report.

The new death toll -- a jump of more than 50,000 on the ministry's last figure -- includes many people who were previously listed as missing, a senior ministry official told Reuters.

M'sian Hospital An Instant Hit With 200 Patients Daily
From Mohamed Razlan Rashid

BANDA ACEH, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The temporary hospital set up two days ago by the Malaysian Armed Forces on humanitarian tour-of-duty has become an instant hit with the villagers of Gue Gajah here, with an average of 200 patients being treated daily.

The hospital has been the first choice among communities around the area which was devastated by the Dec 26 tsunami.

Lt. Col. Dr Mohamed Zakariah Mohamed Ali, the commanding officer at the Armed Forces Hospital here, is expecting an even bigger turnout in due time.

He said Acehnese preferred the service of the Malaysian Armed Forces because of the similarity in language and culture as well as the extra care shown by this high-spirited health team.

"Acehnese are quite similar to Malaysians due to the same culture, language, and our excellent services and they feel closer to us. Moreoever, we understand them deeper," he said.

Dr Zakariah, who heads a team of nine doctors and 44 paramedics, including health technicians, also said that a mobile clinic would be set up soon to extend their health services.

"If everything is in order, a mobile clinic will be set up as we have three mobile army ambulances. This will be good as we can reach patients in remote areas," he said.

Malaysia's first operational hospital was set up at the Sultan Zainal Abidin Airport here three days after the Dec 26 tragedy but could only provide outpatient treatment.

Now, the new centre can ward up to 50 patients, with services varying from normal outpatient treatment to surgery.

The 0.4ha hospital using the Television Radio Indonesia (TVRI) transmission site, also provides counselling to patients as most of the victims are traumatised and are reluctant to return home.

Dr Zakariah said they planned to open another temporary hospital at a different location soon.

The temporary hospital has an operating theatre, two wards, a laboratory, x-ray room, sterilisation room and dental room with laboratory. It also provides villagers with health care items like toothpaste and toothbrush.

One of the most frequently visited clinics is the dental clinic which gets an average of 70 patients daily.

Today, Bernama was invited for a tour of the hospital and had the opportunity to witness a minor operation.

The temporary hospital is set to operate until June 2005 and is near the Gue Gajah Disaster Camp which provides shelter for more than 4,000 villagers from the surrounding areas.

-- BERNAMA

Relief Aid Goods Distributed Well, Says Indonesia
By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

JAKARTA, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Indonesian Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said Saturday that the distribution of relief aid goods among tsunami survivors, including those living in isolated areas in Aceh province has been running well.

"All the isolated areas, including those in the western coastal parts of Aceh province can now be reached by large and small boats," he said, adding that the number of tsunami survivors sheltered in 64 refugee camps in Aceh reached 394,265 as of Jan 21.

"Some of the resettlement sites have been completed and others are still under construction," Alwi was quoted by Antara news agency in Banda Aceh.

He said that Friday alone the amount of relief aid goods from the logistics depot, the World Food Programme (WFP), the warehouse at the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport and the social service office distributed to the tsunami victims included 120.9 tonnes of rice, 1,000 bottles of cooking oil, three tonnes of salted fish, 255 boxes of mineral water, and 200 packs of fast food.

After a powerful earthquake and the subsequent tsunami devastated Aceh on Dec 26, 2,052 tonnes of rice, 45,263 packs of fast food, 44.7 tonnes of salted fish, 6,070 bottles of cooking oil, 2.5 tonnes of sugar, 95,588 packs of milk, 4,828 boxes of mineral water, and 17,539 packs of cracker had been distributed among the tsunami survivors up to yesterday, he said.

He expressed hope that all the refugees could be resettled to new areas in four weeks' time.

"Some of the resettlement sites have been completed and others are still under construction," he said.

The resettlement of refugees would facilitate the proper distribution of relief aid goods because relief workers had so far found it difficult to control the movement of refugees, he said.

"One thing is clear, the resettlement sites have met the standard because they are equipped with bathing, washing and toilet facilities," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Strong Earthquake Shakes Indonesia's Sulawesi

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A large earthquake shook Indonesia's Sulawesi island early on Monday, damaging some buildings, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties as a result of the tremor, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and hit at 3:10 a.m. (1515 EST Sunday), the meteorological and geophysics agency said.

Some homes in Palu, a town near the epicenter, had been damaged, an official at the agency told Reuters

The earthquake was followed by at least two aftershocks and the airport at Palu, 1,500 km (970 miles) northeast of Jakarta, had been closed, media reported.

The earthquake comes less than a month after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the west of Indonesia that generated a tsunami, which killed as many as 234,000 people around the Indian Ocean rim.

Unlikely allies find mutual respect in search for bodies
By Philip Cornford, Herald Correspondent in Banda Aceh
January 24, 2005

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"They come as angels. They are our friends," said Almascaty after the fundamentalist's first meeting yesterday with an Australian army captain.

In another place, in different circumstances, Mr Almascaty would probably regard the Australian army as an enemy, an ally of the Great Satan, America.

"Then we would attack them," he said, slicing a finger across his throat.

But in the stinking rubble of devastated areas of Banda Aceh, the Aussie Angels and the hardline warriors of Islam have become mutually respectful co-workers.

Mr Almascaty is the leader of 250 men from Laskar Pembela Islam, the Soldiers of Islam, the militant arm of the 800,000-strong Front Pembela Islam. Among them are veterans who have fought in Afghanistan and against Christians in Ambon and central Sulawesi.

But in Banda Aceh they have volunteered for the worst imaginable tasks - helping the Indonesian military recover bodies from the vast areas of ruins left in the wake of the tsunami.

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AdvertisementNow they have asked the Australians for help - and the commander of the First Combat Engineer Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Cumming, said he would be "happy to help them" when he can.

A month after the worst natural disaster of modern times, tens of thousands of bodies lie rotting beneath tonnes of rubble in Banda Aceh and other coastal towns.

About 1100 bodies were recovered on Saturday, bringing the total to 94,584. But another 38,000 are listed as missing, and the search goes on from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.

An Australian Army captain and two warrant officers approached the Laskar Pembela Islam on Friday to help them recover a body the engineers had uncovered while clearing rubble.

"We wanted to make sure that the proper recovery and burial formalities were observed," Colonel Cumming said. The Laskar Pembela Islam were impressed and sent a team.

They had their own need for help. The volunteers have no heavy lifting or moving equipment and cannot get to bodies buried under tonnes of rubble.

"They are doing a magnificent job," Colonel Cumming said. "Our job is the removal of building rubble and if they need rubble removed to get to bodies, we will be happy to help them."

There is only one qualification: the job will have to be close to where the Australian heavy equipment is working because it is very difficult to truck it around.

At present, they are within 500 metres of an area of huge destruction where the Laskar Pembela Islam estimate there are thousands of bodies still to be recovered.

Jan 21, 2005
Neighbours prove a comfort in dire times

By Riyadi Suparno and Tertiani Z.b.simanjuntak

'WE LIVE here just like the refugees,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Tay Boon Khai, head of the Singapore Armed Forces' humanitarian task force in Banda Aceh.

And he was telling the truth. The young commander sleeps in a tent on damp ground in the Singapore base camp in the compound of the Indonesian military air base here.

Among the first foreign nationals to arrive in the provincial capital, just two days after the earthquake and tidal waves that levelled many parts of Aceh, the Singapore relief task force brought less publicity but crucial help to ease the ordeal faced by the victims and help the relief organisations distributing aid in remote, affected areas.

It was Singapore's defence forces chief who made a call to his Indonesian counterpart, offering help and deploying six Chinooks and two SuperPuma helicopters plus two vessels off Meulaboh.

The emergency operation, carried out in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh and Medan, was manned by almost 1,000 personnel, including medics, air ground crew and sailors.

The task force was the first to lower its national flag to half mast in the base camp to demonstrate solidarity and express condolences to the Achenese people.

It was soon followed by other foreign military forces who also set up camp in the air base compound.

Singapore's soldiers were the first to get into Meulaboh to rehabilitate the airstrip, enabling helicopters to land.

They also brought in a mobile control tower for the Banda Aceh air base.

When a cargo plane skidded and blocked the airstrip after hitting a buffalo, halting flights in and out of Banda Aceh for more than 12 hours, it was Singapore's heavy equipment - airlifted directly from the island nation - which helped clear the airstrip.

'Singapore is a small country, but we're here to help in whatever way we can...to make a difference. We will stay as long as the Indonesian government needs us,' Lt-Col Tay told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

Besides the military, Singapore also deployed its Civil Defence Force rescue team.

Contingent commander Yazid Abdullah said the team arrived on Dec 28, two days after the calamity, and managed to evacuate 96 people.

'Towards the end of our operation, we helped out at the relief centres in Mataie, working together with Singapore's medical team there, helping in the field hospitals...We are going back home today,' he told the newspaper last week.

Like Singapore, Malaysia also did not wait for a long-distance phone call before deploying its emergency assistance to Aceh.

Mr Nadzri Siron, who co-ordinates the country's military rescue team, civilian relief organisations, and journalists entering Aceh, said they worked on clearing the town of rubble and flotsam.

'We helped the police to clean up trash and mud brought in by the tidal waves.

'We also brought in bulldozers to clear the area after the corpses were removed,' the director of the Emergency Task Force in the state of Selangor explained.

With their two helicopters, Malaysia handled the aid distribution to Meulaboh and established a medical clinic there until all coordination for air transportation was placed under the United Nations agencies represented there recently.

As Lt-Col Tay said, neighbouring countries might not bring much in terms of relief supplies, but the most important thing is that 'neighbouring countries can help, and must help'.

-- This was an op-ed piece published by The Jakarta Post last Saturday.

Taken from *** www.thejakartapost.com ***

Govt plans to rebuild Banda Aceh 'like Putrajaya in Malaysia'


Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government is planning to reconstruct Banda Aceh, which was devastated by the Dec. 26 giant earthquake and tidal waves, into a modern city resembling Malaysia's Putrajaya, a Cabinet minister says.

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Monday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered him and Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in a bid to learn from the neighboring country about the construction of Putrajaya.

Susilo acknowledged that Malaysia had successfully built Putrajasa as a modern city by preserving its combination of Islamic values and local traditions, Yusril told the press after a breakfast meeting with the President in Jakarta.

"The city planning (for Banda Aceh) will reflect the special autonomy status of Aceh, which implements the principles of Islam and local cultures," Yusril said.

Putrajaya, some 50 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, serves as the Malaysian center of administration. Its largely European-influenced architecture also displays Malay and Islamic elements.

One of the city's striking features is Putra Mosque, which incorporates Islamic architecture from countries such as Turkestan, Kazakzstan and Morocco.

Aceh enforced syaria (Islamic law) after it was granted by the central government special autonomy status, which was apparently aimed at appeasing separatism in the province.

Yusril said the central government would start the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Banda Aceh -- the capital of Aceh province -- after March 26, 2005, when a Special Authority Board (BOK) is formed.

The President also ordered the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), and the offices of the state secretary and the Cabinet secretary to prepare the establishment of BOK, which would oversee the overall reconstruction and rehabilitation of Aceh.

Yusril said the three government institutions are drafting a presidential decree to establish the special agency in Aceh.

"The President has ordered Bappenas, the state secretary and the Cabinet secretary to prepare for the establishment of BOK, as the emergency response in Aceh will end by March 26, and the agency will be in charge of rehabilitation and reconstruction after that," he said.

Yusril said the government must consider various aspects before setting up BOK, so it would not overlap with other existing institutions such as the National Coordinating Body for Disaster and Refugee Management (Bakornas PBP) and the provincial administration in Aceh, which is responsible for the special autonomy status.

The minister said Vice President Jusuf Kalla has suggested that the Banda Aceh-based Syah Kuala University and prominent figures in Aceh be involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

"We must be very careful," Yusril said, without elaborating.

Yusril asserted that BOK would not take over the duties of the Aceh provincial administration.

"There will be no overlapping between the authorities of the Aceh administration and the central government," he added.

The plan to form BOK was approved by President Susilo and House of Representatives leaders during a meeting a week ago in Jakarta.

It came after heavy criticism, including from the President, over the lack of coordination and poor performance of Bakornas, which is led by the Vice President, in distributing relief aid for the tsunami victims.

The headquarters of BOK will be in Aceh. It will be led by an official of the same level as a minister and directly responsible to the President.

this is really stupid, FCC should ban this kind of radio station in the US.

NY radio station apologizes over tsunami slur

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A New York radio station apologized on Monday for repeatedly airing a joke song that ridiculed victims of the recent tsunami in South Asia and used racial slurs, saying the piece was in poor taste.
New York FM radio station WQHT, or HOT 97, ran the segment on its "Miss Jones in the Morning" show. The piece used racial slurs to describe people swept away in the disaster, made jokes about child slavery and people watching their mothers die.

"You can hear God laughing, 'Swim you bitches swim,'" was one line in the song.

The hip-hop and R&B station, known for its "shock jocks," apologized on its Web site, saying it, "regrets the airing of material that made light of a serious and tragic event. We apologize to our listeners and anyone who was offended."

WQHT's program director and deejay Tarsha Nicole Jones, who uses the on-air name Miss Jones, apologized on the program and said the segment should not have been broadcast.

The piece drew wide criticism from Albany to New York's City Hall, with many lawmakers calling on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to fine HOT 97.

At a time when virtually the entire world has come together to help in the tsunami tragedy relief, employees of HOT 97 have come up with this song," said New York State Assembly member Jimmy Meng, a Democrat from Queens. "We are disgusted and demand immediate action by the FCC."

An FCC spokesman in Washington had no immediate comment.

The piece was also denounced by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said it had received calls from Muslims offended by the piece.

Station-owner Emmis Communications Corp. issued an apology and said the seven-person staff of the show has agreed to contribute one-week's pay each to tsunami-relief efforts.

The incident is not the first time HOT 97 has been accused of racism and poor taste. The station made headlines when deejay Star, now at another radio station, called Jennifer Lopez a "rice-and-bean eater" and satirized the plane crash that killed R&B singer Aaliyah in 2001.

Four weeks after giant waves killed as many as 234,000 people across the Indian Ocean region, workers are still pulling hundreds of bodies from the mud and rubble each day and aid groups say they are struggling to reach isolated areas.

Jan 26, 2005
'Yes' to buffaloes, 'no' to sunglasses

Singapore mindful of local culture when giving aid to tsunami survivors in Meulaboh
By Tertiani Zb Simanjuntak

IT CAME as no surprise when the trucks full of soldiers with familiar faces passing along the main streets of Meulaboh on the west coast of Aceh were greeted by waving children and adults yelling 'Singaporeans, Singaporean soldiers have arrived'.

As the first of the foreign troops to enter Meulaboh, almost 80 per cent of which was devastated by the Dec 26 disaster, the Singaporean defence force has paved the way for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the small town.

Life has gradually been returning in the harbour town. While few fishermen are brave enough to set out to sea, the town has been almost completely cleared of rubble and flotsam, while the market and stores have reopened.

'The town is getting busier day by day - traffic jams everywhere. It's a good sign,' Colonel Tan Chuan Jin, who commands the entire relief operation being mounted from three Singaporean warships - the RSS Endurance, the RSS Persistence and the RSS Endeavour - laying at anchor off Meulaboh, told the Jakarta Post.

The neighbouring country immediately responded to the disaster by sending medical supplies and other forms of assistance to Aceh's capital city, Banda Aceh, and Medan in North Sumatra. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) later decided to focus relief efforts on Meulaboh, where access by road had been cut by the tsunami.

The unarmed troops have been busy restoring the shore and roads and cleaning up the city. They have also constructed two landing pads for helicopters.

Following the reopening of the road from Medan and the construction of the helipads, more relief workers and aid supplies have been arriving in Meulaboh.

The SAF initiated a coordination system with the Indonesian authorities in Meulaboh, ensuring that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) brought in only what the displaced people and locals actually needed.

From the RSS Endurance, Col Tan commands 'Singapore's biggest military operation ever', organising the work of up to 800 personnel, including medical teams and members of the Singapore Red Cross and NGOs.

He also has at his disposal six Chinooks and two Super Puma helicopters, dozens of bulldozers, diggers, excavators, forklifts, tractors, trucks and other vehicles.

Despite the humid and sunny weather of the coastal area, none of the soldiers wears sunglasses, especially among locals, as they find it 'rude and un-Asian'. The fatigue endured by the soldiers, who are mostly conscripts and have to travel from the vessel to shore every day at 7am and sail back at 5pm before completing their duties on board by 10.30pm, was quickly dispelled by the well wishes and prayers sent by Singaporean elementary school students.

Scaling down their operation in Meulaboh, which started on New Year's Eve, the soldiers sailed off on Jan 21 after the Muslim troops among the contingent celebrated the big day (Hari Raya Haji) with locals. The SAF contributed 20 buffaloes to be slaughtered for the festivities at several camps.

'We have set up a system here which can be continued by other organisations that have better capabilities than we have and will continue to deliver humanitarian assistance from Singapore and various NGOs and international organisations,' Col Tan remarked.

The Singaporean troops have also established a temporary command centre that can be used by whoever takes their place 'as a symbol of the start of reconstruction in Meulaboh'.

'Although we were the first to arrive, it doesn't mean we're the last to stay. I hope it means the relationship between the two countries is getting stronger,' Col Tan said.

This article appeared in the Jakarta Post on Jan 20.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2005-01-26/21.jpg
LEAVE-TAKING WITH WELL WISHES: A Singaporean soldier giving his final salute as the RSS Endurance leaves Meulaboh after completing its mission to help with relief efforts. The operation, which involved more than 800 personnel, started on Dec 31. -- TERENCE TAN

'Cat Stevens' tours Indonesia's tsunami zone

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia : Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, flew into the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh on a tour aimed at encouraging more aid for disaster victims.

Islam, who turned his back on showbusiness in 1977 when he became a Muslim convert, took a helicopter flight over some of the most devastated areas.

He said he has decided to briefly step back into the spotlight -- recording a charity record "Indian Ocean" and headlining a benefit concert in Jakarta on Monday -- because of the scale of the calamity.

"When we heard, when we saw what had happened we were also moved and because I already run some charities looking after orphans we decided to come to Aceh as soon as possible," he told reporters on arrival at Banda Aceh airport.

He was due to pray in the region's main mosque later Saturday.

Islam praised "fantastic" relief efforts but said more needed to be done in the devoutly Muslim province, home to most of the 230,000 Indonesians presumed dead after the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis.

"It also needs to be continued so we just don't give (charity to) them in a flash for one month and then it's gone. This is going to be a long-term problem," he told reporters.

He said his presence in Indonesia would help draw attention to aid requirements and ensure help was sustained "as long as needed."

His helicopter touched down later Saturday at Lam No, a town on the west coast of Indonesia's northern Sumatra island, 44 kilometers (27 miles) south of Banda Aceh.

Islam touched the heads of children who lined up with their mothers at a camp for the displaced to receive 50,000-rupiah (about five dollars) bank notes from him.

"Have you seen anything like this in your country?" some of the children asked him.

"No, not in Britain," Islam told them. "But the tsunami can happen anywhere."

The British singer said his Small Kindness charity was setting up a regional office in Indonesia and would work on projects "to keep families together" by helping children who had lost their parents in Aceh.

"We try to find other family members who would look after the orphans and then keep the family together in that way and then pay them subsistence every month," he said.

The charity, which works closely with the UN, has distributed nearly four million euros to needy families and for rehabilitation work in Iraq and the Balkans over the past five years, said his wife Fauziah Islam.

Islam, who had hits in the 1960s and 1970s with "Father and Son", "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train", hit the headlines last year when he was deported from the United States after being found to be on a US terrorism watchlist.

The bearded recording artist strongly denied any links to terrorist organisations.

His visit to Aceh followed in the footsteps of several prominent world figures including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and, shortly before he stood down as US secretary of state, Colin Powell.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard was expected to tour the region next week.

- AFP

I found this interesting article that explain why the closest island to the epicenter : Simeleu Island, part of Aceh, does not have a high death toll, very little infact.


Smoong, yang Menyelamatkan Orang-orang Simeuleu
http://jkt.detik.com/kolom/rhenald/kolom/200502/20050203-105842.shtml
Oleh: Rhenald Kasali

Minggu malam,16 Januari 2005, pukul 11.00 wib. Sinabang, ibukota Kabupaten Pulau Simeuleu yang mulai sepi tiba-tiba heboh. Ribuan orang turun ke jalan dan sebagian berlari ke atas bukit. Orang-orang yang sedang santai di kedai kopi pun ikut berlari, tak ketinggalan orang-orang asing yang sedang istirahat di sebuah losmen. Menurut sas-sus yang beredar, air laut naik lagi.

M. Hasbi Mahmud, Wakil Ketua DPRD yang sedang berdialog dengan masyarakat di kedai kopi ikut meninggalkan kedai. Ia teringat akan tamu-tamunya yang datang dari Jakarta dan menginap di sebuah losmen tak jauh dari kedai itu. Tamu-tamu dari Pascasarjana Ilmu Manajemen FEUI saat itu datang untuk memberi bantuan kepada para pengungsi. Mereka segera dievakuasi, tetapi di tengah jalan Hasbi tiba-tiba sadar.

”Tidak ada gempa kok, mengapa harus lari ke gunung?” tanyanya.
”Perintah orang-orang tua,” katanya lagi. ”Kalau ada gempa segera pantau air. Begitu air laut atau sungai surut, segera lari ke gunung.”

Ia lalu membelokkan kendaraan dinasnya ke rumahnya yang letaknya agak sedikit di atas. Dari situ sebenarnya ia bisa memantau posisi air laut yang jaraknya hanya sekitar 100 meter dari rumahnya. Dari kegelapan ia tidak melihat tanda-tanda air pasang, tetapi, rumahnya sudah menjadi tempat mengungsi. Kaum Ibu dan anak-anak terlihat lemas, tapi itu tak berlangsung lama karena tiba-tiba mereka semua sadar hukum alam yang mengharuskan mereka mengungsi tidak terpenuhi. Semua kembali ke rumah masing-masing.

Esok paginya, begitu matahari terbit, kaum ibu sudah bertandang ke rumah tetangga dan bapak-bapak berkerumun di kedai kopi. Mereka membicarakan peristiwa semalam. Rupanya isu semalam dilontarkan oleh seorang remaja yang bersama teman-temannya bermaksud mencuri. Orang itu sekarang sudah di tangan polisi.

*****

Pada saat badai Tsunami menerjang Aceh 26 Desember 2004, pusat gempa berada tak jauh dari Simeuleu. Beberapa sumber yang layak dipercaya menyebutkan Simeleu adalah pulau terdekat episentrum gempa. Setelah televisi memvisualkan betapa dahsyatnya bencana yang ditimbulkan di Banda Aceh, orang-orang Simeuleu di Jakarta menangis. Kalau Banda Aceh separah itu, bagaimana nasib pulau terdekat episentrum? Hubungan telekomunikasi terputus tak ada kabar, yang ada hanya duga-duga.

Saya mengatakan pada istri Saya, jangan-jangan pulau ini sudah tenggelam. Padahal, lebaran 2003 Simeuleu menjadi tempat berlibur keluarga kami. Jadi Saya tahu betul seluk beluk pulau seluas 2000 kilometer persegi ini. Saya juga kenal dengan tokoh-tokoh adat dan masyarakatnya. Merekalah yang menemani keluarga Saya memasuki desa-desa terpencil dengan transportasi seadanya. Jadi ketika hubungan terputus, kami benar-benar cemas.

Oleh karena itu, beberapa minggu lalu Saya memutuskan untuk turun langsung ke sana. Apalagi Kompas pernah menulis Simeuleu belum terjamah. Setelah berbicara dengan Kompas dan Yayasan Rumah Baca (Manca), Saya pun pergi membawa barang-barang bantuan. Upaya ini didukung oleh KSAU, Marsekal Chappy Hakim yang Saya beritahu beberapa hari sebelumnya. Setelah berkoordinasi, ia meminta Saya menghubungi Marsda SB Sidahebi, Komandan Operasi yang mengendalikan semua kegiatan TNI-AU di Medan. Marsda Sidahebi mengerahkan Pesawat CN235 milik TNI-AU untuk mengantar dan menjemput tim yang Saya bawa dari Program Studi yang Saya pimpin di UI. Semua bantuan itu akhirnya sampai di Simeuleu Minggu 16 Januari 2005 dan diterima oleh Bupati Dharmili di Posko Bencana Tsunami di Sinabang.

*****

Begitu mendarat di Sinabang, udara menangis masih dapat Saya rasakan. Sekretaris Pemda Kabupaten memberitahu Saya, anaknya 4 orang yang sedang kuliah di Banda Aceh, sampai hari itu belum diketemukan.

Suasana murung ada di wajah semua orang yang menjemput, tetapi makin ke dalam kota, kedukaan mulai tidak terasa. Beberapa rumah tampak roboh oleh gempa, tetapi korban jiwa hampir tidak ada.
Hari itu Saya minta dibawa ke tempat-tempat yang benar-benar hancur. Sayang para pejabat yang beberapa hari lalu mendarat ke pulau ini tak punya banyak waktu. Kalau impresi mereka hanya didapat di Sinabang tentu keliru. Setelah berkendaraan sejauh 60 kilometer, tim sampai di desa Labuan Bajau. Suasana desa ini agak mirip dengan Banda Aceh. Kayu bekas berserakan, rumah-rumah yang hancur diterjang badai, sekolah yang rubuh dan orang-orang yang kebingungan berkerumun. Satu-satunya bangunan yang utuh hanya masjid. Di sebuah bangunan kayu yang roboh, Saya membaca sebuah coretan tangan, ”Kumohon jangan sampai terjadi lagi gempa.” Pesannya begitu lirih.

Seorang Bapak yang Saya temui sedang membetulkan perahunya. Mesinnya sudah hilang, dan sebagian kayunya lepas-lepas. Oleh badai Tsunami perahu kecil itu didamparkan di atas bukit sekitar 300 meter dari bibir pantai, tapi anehnya semua orang selamat. Kok bisa begitu?
Seperti yang telah sering ditulis di koran, di pulau ini ada tradisi untuk lari ke bukit bila air laut tampak surut. Jadi pada saat gempa terjadi, mereka memantau air. Begitu air surut, semua lari ke gunung atau bukit. Tradisi ini disebut Smoong. Yang menarik perhatian Saya, tradisi ini terjadi merata di seluruh pulau. Padahal letak desa-desa saling berjauhan. Simeuleu tak punya alat angkut yang memadai. Bahkan jembatannya banyak yang putus. Mereka tak punya radio atau koran lokal, tetapi semua tau apa artinya kalau seseorang berteriak Smoong.

Smoong berarti aba-aba agar lari ke gunung karena sebentar lagi akan datang air bah. Hukum alamnya dimulai dari gempa, lalu air laut di pantai surut dan datanglah air bah itu. M Hasbi Mahmud memberi tahu Saya, menurut cerita orang-orang tua, ketika terjadi Tsunami pada tahun 1907 di pulau ini, ikan paus besar-besar banyak yang terdampar di gunung.

Tentu saja Smoong tidak mudah dipahami oleh pendatang, tetapi karena naluri, mereka semua ikut mengungsi. Maka selamatlah mereka semua dari bencana. Yang menjadi masalah adalah bagaimana meyakinkan orang-orang di luar pulau. Di daratan Sumatera, orang-orang Simeuleu yang merantau merasa sering diperlakukan sebagai ’orang pulau’. Sebutan ini serupa rasanya dengan sebutan ’orang kampung’ di Jawa.
Sekarang ini beredar macam-macam cerita yang menyebutkan cuma orang Simeuleu yang selamat dari tsunami. Seorang tokoh masyarakat menyebutkan keluarganya yang selamat di Ulele Banda Aceh. Ketika terjadi gempa dan air laut surut, ia segera berteriak Smoong. Semua orang di Ulele bingung melihatnya. Mereka malah lari ke laut memungut ikan. Kemenakannya mengajak orang-orang lari tapi ia tak digubris. Ia disangka orang gila, tapi ternyata cuma ialah yang selamat.

Seorang yang lain menceritakan pengalamannya di Meulaboh. Setelah mengalami gempa, orang ini segera meletakkan sarapan paginya dan mengajak orang-orang di sekitarnya lari ke bukit. Karena ia meninggalkan makannya, yang lain ikut percaya, maka selamatlah mereka. Smoong telah menyelamatkan orang-orang Simeuleu.

*****

Mungkin karena rata-rata orang Simeuleu selamat, tak tampak betul duka di wajah mereka. Di desa Salur dan di Tepah Selatan, Saya sempat termenung menyaksikan sebuah gedung sekolah dasar yang hancur. Jumlah muridnya ada 146 anak. Untung bencana itu terjadi di hari libur. Tak terbayangkan apa jadinya kalau anak-anak masih di dalam kelas.

Tumpukan kayu bekas, sampah dan kertas ulangan berserakan di lorong-lorong kelas yang dindingnya sudah jebol dibawa arus. Buku-buku belajar membaca masih basah berserakan. Satu-satunya hiasan dinding yang masih ada hanya gambar foto Teuku Cik di Tiro, pahlawan Aceh. Di sebelah sekolah, tak jauh dari kuburan yang membelah jalan menuju desa, Saya menemukan dua orang anak berusia 8 dan 9 tahun yang sedang bermain. Mereka membakar kayu-kayu yang berserakan dan membuat masak-masakan di atas kaleng yang ditemukan di tepi pantai.
Saya tanya apa mereka ingin kembali sekolah. Mereka tersenyum dan menjawab enteng, ”Mau”. Tak ada tanda-tanda duka di wajah mereka, sama dengan penduduk yang rumahnya hancur tak jauh dari tempat mereka bermain. Sambil menghirup air kelapa, mereka cuma bilang, ”Rumah awak hancur!”, tapi mereka masih bisa tersenyum. Beda benar dengan wajah-wajah memelas yang Saya temui di tempat-tempat lain.

Saya jadi teringat dengan ucapan Bupati Dharmili sesaat sebelum meninggalkan Simeuleu. ”Jangan lupakan pulau terpencil ini. Kalau kedukaan tak tampak di wajah mereka, bukan berarti mereka tidak menderita. Melainkan sehari-hari hidup mereka memang sudah susah.”

Artikel ini pernah dimuat di harian KOMPAS tanggal 24 Januari 2005

Looks like this will go through...

Malaysia offers master plan to rebuild Indonesia's tsunami-hit Banda Aceh

KUALA LUMPUR, (AFP) - Malaysia will draw up a master plan for rebuilding Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Banda Aceh which could include relocating the city on higher ground, constructing 120,000 new homes and building a breakwater to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

A team of Malaysian town planners, engineers, architects and quantity surveyors flew in to Banda Aceh at the weekend to follow up an offer made by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

They were visited Monday by a delegation of Malaysian ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, accompanied by a Malaysia-based correspondent for AFP.

"We can either use the existing location, build further inland or move to higher ground, but it all depends on the Indonesian government," Najib said during the one-day trip.

Malaysian planners would draw on their experience in developing the country's impressive new administrative capital of Putrajaya, which was built from scratch in an area formerly covered in palmoil plantations.

A concept for the rebuilding could be ready in a month and a master plan in three months, Najib said.

Malaysia would propose building 120,000 homes and "a very large" breakwater off the coast of Aceh to prevent damage by any future tsunamis, Works Minister Samy Vellu, who accompanied Najib on the visit, told reporters.

Samy Vellu has said the masterplan would initially contain the city's administration and commercial centre, industrial sites and housing estates.

Asked whether Malaysian companies would be involved in the construction work, he replied: "It is too early to say, but once we are deeply involved, our participation in the building and planning will be continuous."

Najib said the "final shape (of the new Banda Aceh) will take into consideration the requirements of the Indonesian government and people, in terms of its architecture and philosophy. It will be based on Acehnese historical and cultural values.

"We have the capability because we have developed Putrajaya which was based on the requirements of Malaysians." Putrajaya's architecture combines elements of modern western design with strong Islamic influences.

The Indonesian president said in remarks published in Jakarta Tuesday that a blueprint to rebuild Aceh province would preserve its legacy as the entry point for Islam into the archipelago, which has earned it the nickname the "Veranda of Mecca."

"(The blueprint) should not do away with Aceh's special characteristic, that of Aceh as a center for Islam. The term 'Veranda of Mecca' should also not disappear at all, the eastern values and Acehnese customs should not be uprooted," Yudhoyono told the Republika daily.

The killer tsunamis caused widespread destruction in Aceh, wiping out many coastal villages and leaving more than 240,000 people dead or missing, and some 400,000 homeless.

Najib said the cost of the project was unknown. "It all depends on the concept, the scope and the requirements. I would hate to put a figure on it at this stage."

Funding would be discussed with multilateral financing institutions, he said.

Malaysia has already provided aid to Indonesia in the wake of the tsunami, including a disaster relief centre for 2,000 victims in Jantho, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Banda Aceh.

"We are also in the process of discussing the construction of temporary homes in Jantho," Najib said.

Another relief centre would soon be built in Lhoong, another area on the west coast that suffered severe damage, he said.

Govt completes blueprint on Aceh, allocates Rp 45 trillion

JAKARTA (JP): The government has completed a blueprint for the reconstruction of tsunami-hit Aceh and allocated Rp 45 trillion (US$5 billion) for rebuilding the province within the next five years, a minister said on Wednesday.

"Fifty percent of the fund would be allocated forinfrastructure projects in the province," State Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Sri Mulyani said the government would build sea walls and regreen mangrove forests along Aceh's coast to reduce the impact of possible future tsunamis.

However, she said, the government was still considering how to relocate thousands of people who used to live near the beaches in the province. (ren/*)

Tsunami has pushed India towards Indonesia
11.55 IST 17th Mar 2005

By Agencies

India has come geographically closer to Indonesia by 12 centimetres after the giant earthquake on December 26, 2004, according to scientists at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad.

The NGRI report comes close on the heels of the announcement by geologists in Trivandrum that islands of Andaman and Nicobar have shifted Southwest by a few metres immediately after the quake.

Both teams had analyzed the data from Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers positioned at different islands.

Vineet Gahalaut and his team at NGRI that did an independent geodetic survey using the same GPS receivers found that the distance between Bangalore in India and Medan in Sumatra had shrunk by 12 centimetres.

The NGRI analysis also suggests that cities in southern India "might have experienced eastward horizontal movement of up to 10 mm after the quake." Gahalaut said.

He said this was also confirmed from GPS data at Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Indonesia ousts Christian groups


By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Christian groups and some other private relief agencies are being asked to halt their work in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh and leave the area by March 26, Indonesia's defense minister said yesterday.
The decision likely will target Western and smaller church groups as the government moves to tighten control over reconstruction work in Aceh, the home of a decades-old separatist insurgency.
"We want each of the relief agencies to be transparent in their programs: Some of them are not clear about their mandates," said Juwono Sudarsono during an interview in a Washington hotel.







"Aceh is mostly Muslim, and some church groups from Australia and the United States are too eager to be there and do their part," he said.
Mr. Sudarsono said his government had set March 26 some weeks ago as a target date for moving from the disaster-relief phase of post-tsunami operations to the reconstruction phase.
With that goal in sight, he said, the overwhelming presence of U.S. and Western relief agencies could make members of the local Islamic community uncomfortable, adding that they would be replaced by Pakistani and Saudi Arabian workers.
The relief organizations are being asked to leave Aceh by March 26 unless Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab decides they can stay, Mr. Sudarsono said.
One of the conditions for continuing work will be registering with the U.N. Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Bruce Campbell-Janz of the Christian Reformed World Relief program said there were some things Christian relief groups can do "to increase [their] validity in the eyes of the government. ... There needs to be significant sensitivity around religious issues."
Speaking by telephone from Canada, Mr. Campbell-Janz said he had heard reports of some Christian agencies setting up large banners with Christian references, something he said would be considered disrespectful.
But, he said, the Indonesian government also wants to tighten its control over an area that had been closed because of a guerrilla war with separatists until the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami.
"There are likely multiple motivations -- religious sensitivities and issues of control that make the government nervous," Mr. Campbell-Janz said.
Aceh has been under emergency military rule for years as Indonesian security forces battle the armed Free Aceh Movement. The area has been in a virtual lockdown with few outsiders, including journalists, allowed in.
Human Rights Watch has said that both sides in the conflict have violated human rights with impunity. The organization has documented the security forces' role in extrajudicial executions, "disappearances" and torture, as well as the separatists' role in killings, unlawful detentions and forced expulsions.
Mr. Sudarsono said the tsunami had destroyed the infrastructure of some of the military, but also had wiped out the rebel infrastructure -- giving both sides new incentives to negotiate.
"I think we are getting some progress," the minister said.
Catholic Relief Services, part of the private relief effort that plays a large and vital reconstruction role in the region, said it had not been asked to leave Aceh.
"But all that can change. We are definitely keeping tabs on it. I think everyone is, because there is a long history of that happening," said Cecile Sorra, a spokeswoman for CRS, which has been working in Indonesia since 1957.
"It's quite possible they just want to pull everyone out and have an orderly re-entry, so they pick and choose who can come back in," Miss Sorra said.

Possibly hundreds dead as a 2nd massive earthquake (8.7) hits between the islands of Nias and Siberut.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/indonesia.quake/index.html

*sigh*
not again.......................
but eventhough expert said "100 percent" chance for tsunami, it doesnt happen..

Just the fate of living on a volcanic archipelago I suppose. Even on Dec. 26th SBY was staying the night with Papuan victims of an earthquake.

what a terrible year for indonesia.

My condolences to all the victims of the quake! :(

The quake was strongly felt in most parts of Peninsular Malaysia :eek:

the death toll may be as high as 2000, according to the VP...
and SBY has postponed his visits to Australia & New Zealand..

To look at things on a slightly brighter side, there was apparantly no tsunami generated, so the devastation was relatively localised.

Alvin, Washington Times is a publication that you should becareful about when using it as a source for news. It is owned by the Moonies and have a very right wing slant.

what a terrible year for indonesia.

since SBY on UP ? ;p~

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 29 March 2005 1306 hrs

Three metre high wave hits Indonesian island after quake

SIBOLGA, Indonesia : Waves of up to three metres surged into Indonesian coastlines in the wake of a major earthquake, witnesses said Tuesday, but damage from the waters appears to have been small despite widespread tsunami panic.

An 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck southwest of Sumatra late Monday, triggering tsunami alerts around the Indian Ocean amid fears of a repeat of the December 26 disaster that killed 270,000 people.

Alerts were dropped within of hours as it emerged that the new quake, though close in location and scale to the earlier seismic event, would not result in the same widespread destruction despite at least 300 dead on the island of Nias.

But according to officials and witnesses, some stretches of coastline experienced ocean surges, ranging from three-metre walls of water to waves racing kilometres inland.

Endang Suwaraya, a military commander in the western Indonesian province of Aceh, close to the epicentre of the quake, said he had received reports that large waves had ploughed into the main port on Simeulue island.

"I have obtained the information that in Simeulue there were tsunami waves of between two and three meters, damaging the wharf." he said.

He said several buildings collapsed, including the main hospital in the coastal town of Sinabang, where the island's airport was also affected.

"In Sinabang, a lot of buildings collapsed I do not know their precise number," he said, adding that the town's hospital suffered major damage.

He said there were also reports of a "tsunami" in the nearby Banyak islands, while waters surging inland on the coast of Aceh province on mainland Sumatra island caused the collapse of several bridges.

On Nias, a woman who identified herself as Ping Ping, described how the sea rose more than it had after last year's tsunami, which left Nias relatively unscathed but wreaked destruction elsewhere.

"The water level rose higher than last December, reaching in up to 30 metres," she said.

According to the state Antara news agency, the entire town of Aceh Singkil was levelled by the earthquake, although 10,000 were able to flee their homes.

The agency said the town centre was devastated, with private and public buildings either cracked or collapsed, electricity poles and supply down and large cracks appearing on roads and streets.

However, a local journalist there told AFP that part of the city away from the shore remained largely standing. The journalist said that government and private buildings near the shore had borne the brunt of the damage.

The journalist said that following the earthquake the sea rose by some three meters and advanced some two kilometers inland, sweeping 30 houses in its path.

Electricity poles on the road to Subulusalam some 48 kilometers north all collapsed and roads and bridges in the area were cracked.

Despite the concerns, overflights of the area by aid agencies and the government have revealed the damage does not come close to that wreaked on December 26. - AFP

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 29 March 2005 1021 hrs

Ocean surged 30 metres inshore after new Indonesian earthquake: witness

JAKARTA : A massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia did not trigger a tsunami, but witnesses on a island that suffered major damage said on Tuesday that the ocean surged 30 metres inland.

A woman who identified herself as Ping Ping, speaking from Nias island southwest of Sumatra, said the sea rose more than it had after last year's tsunami that left Nias relatively unscathed but wreaked destruction elsewhere.

"The water level rose higher than last December, reaching up to 30 metres," she said.

Tsunami warnings were issued around the Indian Ocean after an 8.7 magnitude quake hit late Monday.

Despite widespread panic as thousands fled inland, there was no repeat of the giant waves that followed the 9.0 quake on December 26.

"There were some people who returned to town but went back to the hills again after seeing the sea water rising," Ping Ping said.

Indonesia's vice president on Tuesday said that up to 2,000 people were feared dead in collapsed buildings on Nias after the earthquake.

Ping Ping said that there were no buildings left intact in Teluk Dalam, the main town in southern Nias.

"All buildings collapsed, there is nothing left," she said.

Thousands of people had taken to the hills near the town and were refusing to come down, she said.

"There are still plenty of aftershocks, although milder, but people are still afraid, and besides, there is nowhere we can go as houses have collapsed."

She said that a lot of people were still trapped under rubble, but she could not give any figure.

She said some doctors and nuns were providing medical treatment in the hills, mostly for physical injuries among those who fled their homes.

"I myself, am still holding on, with a tear wound on my calf," she said. - AFP

watching TV last night, I was thinking if the part where it was hit by both tsunami and last earthquake are still unstable and if this could go further to other island like java.
And how much longer it will last? nobody knows, we can only anticipate

scary...


Sleeping giants present the biggest threat of all
By Richard Macey
April 1, 2005

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Sumatra's disaster-weary people may have more than earthquakes and a tsunami to worry them.

Hit by two natural disasters in three months, the island is also home to Lake Toba, a super volcano overdue to wake from its 73,000-year slumber, a scientist warned yesterday.

Ray Cas, from Monash University's School of Geosciences, said Lake Toba's next blast could be big enough to disrupt the world's climate and send a tsunami surging towards Australia.

Professor Cas said none of the world's 100 or so active super volcanoes had erupted in modern times. However, if one did, it would be 100 to 1000 times more powerful than Krakatoa's 1883 eruption.

He feared the threat was being overlooked, just as the danger posed by Indian Ocean tsunami had been ignored.

"The Boxing Day tsunami was going to happen sooner or later, but there were no warning systems. A super volcano will happen sooner or later, and there are limited warning systems," he said. "We certainly need to be improving our monitoring of super volcanoes. If any of these were to erupt we would see disaster on a magnitude greater than we have ever experienced."

Advertisement
AdvertisementWhen Lake Toba erupted 73,000 years ago the world's climate was balanced on the edge of an ice age, Professor Cas said.

"The eruption released 1000 cubic kilometres of ash and rock debris into the atmosphere, much of it as fine ash which blocked out solar radiation, kicking the world back into an ice age."

In addition to cooling the world, with devastating results for global agriculture, Lake Toba's next eruption would probably send a pyroclastic flow - a rush of superheated gas and ash - crashing into the sea with enough force to trigger a tsunami.

The volcano was definitely still active, influenced by the same movement of tectonics plates that triggered the December 26 and March 28 earthquakes.

Another super volcano overdue for eruption was Taupo, on New Zealand's North Island. "It has a big eruption every 2000 years and it last erupted about 2000 years ago".

Scary....will the entirety of Southeast Asia be whipped out then?

Scary....will the entirety of Southeast Asia be whipped out then?

Hmm that would be The Day After Tomorrow for SE Asia... :ohno:

coi .. coi .. coi
*touch wood*

OMG....Kratatau in 1883 was bad enough. To many people around the world (even in Europe), it looks like doomsday was upon them. If I'm not wrong, the explosion even tilted earth slightly away from its axis. Anything 1000 times of that magnitude would not only trigger death in SEA, but more like another ice age i think.

Of course, we here in SEA would be spared of that suffering (we'll be buried 100m in volcanic ash :P)

Pope Death, Crash, Test Faith on Indonesian Isle

5 minutes ago World - Reuters


By Dean Yates

GUNUNGSITOLI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Somber survivors gathered outdoors on Indonesia's Nias island on Sunday for their first mass since last week's huge earthquake, mourning the death of Pope John Paul, and nine Australian military personnel killed in a helicopter crash.

As a service began at the large Santa Maria church in Gunungsitoli, the main town on this majority Roman Catholic island, a strong aftershock rattled the building sending about 150 panicked worshippers spilling outside.


The service resumed after the altar, candles and cross were brought out of the building.


"Our suffering has multiplied because we have lost our leader, His Holiness the Pope," Pastor Mikael To'pr from the Santa Maria church said in his sermon, urging people to remain strong in their faith after the death of the ailing Pontiff overnight in the Vatican.


He said death of Australian military personnel on Saturday added to the shock of the islanders.


"After I heard about the helicopter that crashed near Teluk Dalam I felt shocked. They came to help us, but now they are victims also," he told reporters after the service.


Nine Australian military personnel died when their helicopter crashed during an aid mission to the island in what appeared to be an accident.


"This is really quite heart-breaking. These young Australians were on a mission of mercy and compassion, they were helping the poor people of the island of Nias in the wake of the latest earthquake there," Prime Minister John Howard told Australian radio in Sydney.


It was Australia's worst post-Vietnam War operational loss of military personnel.


"The nine dead bodies have not yet been evacuated. Police are at the site," said Alisman Nainggolan, Nias deputy police chief.


"We are waiting for the provincial police chief to go to the site by helicopter to bring in body bags," he said. An Indonesian helicopter flew to the site on Sunday morning carrying Australian embassy officials from Jakarta.


BODIES SCATTERED


Nainggolan said the bodies could not be immediately evacuated due to difficulties in reaching the remote area and because roads had been cut by the earthquake.


The dead bodies were scattered, he said.


Aid is slowly reaching victims on Nias, where roads have been wrecked and many areas are cut off. Supplies are being sent in by air and boat.


Thousands of people are facing food and water shortages after the quake damaged or destroyed many shops and markets.


At the port in Gunungsitoli, where U.N. officials say as many as 1,300 people died in Monday's magnitude 8.7 quake, families gathered in hopes of getting off the island, panicked by rumors that another massive quake would strike and sink the island.





Several strong aftershocks were felt on Sunday morning.

"Many people have fled to Sibolga, afraid that Nias will be sunk (by an earthquake) before too long. This is not true. Stay calm," said Pastor Mikael To'pr in his sermon. Sibolga is on the west coast of Sumatra island.

A woman who lost her husband and three children wept.

"I prayed that I am strong enough to withstand this and to be able to take care of my other two children," said Angeline Indah, 43, after the service.

On Saturday, rescuers pulled out alive a man trapped for five days in the rubble of his shop and house, but officials say hope is fading for more miracles.

Indonesian officials say 2,000 may have been killed in Nias. Many areas cut off by landslides and damaged roads have yet to be reached. Deaths have also been reported on nearby islands.

One aid worker said on Saturday only about 10 percent of 5,600 sq km (2,100 sq mile) Nias, which has a population of some 700,000, had been assessed by aid agencies.

Reuters correspondents who rode by motorbike from Gunungsitoli along the road to the town of Teluk Dalam 120 km (75 miles) south on Friday saw widespread damage to houses, bridges and roads and little sign of aid reaching people.

My sincere condolances to all victims and also to the Australians who passed away during this rescue and relief mission.

not another one... :bash:

Indonesia Quake Spurs Rush to High Ground
59 minutes ago World - Reuters



PADANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 rattled parts of Indonesia on Sunday, sending people in this city on Sumatra island rushing out of their homes and heading toward high ground in fear of a possible tsunami.


AFP
Slideshow: Deadly Quake Hits Indonesian Island

Nias Struggles With Relief Distribution
(Reuters Video)




Latest Headlines:
· No tsunami threat with latest Indonesia quake: USGS
AFP - 19 minutes ago

· Strong Quake Hits Near Indonesian Island
AP - 23 minutes ago

· Indonesia Quake Spurs Rush to High Ground
Reuters - 59 minutes ago


Special Coverage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSS:






However, there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, or that the quake had actually caused a tsunami, officials in Jakarta said.


Quakes have been common in Indonesia since a massive temblor on Dec. 26 triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 180,000 people. Nearly 50,000 more are still unaccounted for from that disaster.


According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, no tsunami warning has been issued as a result of the quake, but it also said there are no tsunami detection devices in the immediate area of the quake.


The latest quake was felt in Indonesia's neighbor Singapore as well.


A Reuters reporter in Padang, a city of some 800,000 on Sumatra's west coast, said he saw many people leave their houses and seek higher ground.


The United States Geological Survey said on its Web site http://earthquake.usgs.gov that the quake, which struck at 1729 local time (6:29 a.m. EDT) was "strong" and located in the Indonesia's Kepulauan Mentawai region.


It said that aftershocks of 5.8 and 6.3 magnitude occurred in the same region at 6:45 a.m. EDT and 7:14 a.m. EDT, respectively.


"It's part of the chain of previous quakes. It's not an aftershock," Fauzi, an official with the national meteorological bureau in Jakarta, told Reuters.


Wijayanto, another Jakarta official monitoring quake activity, said: "We are still checking with Padang but there is no damage report until now."


He said the quake epicenter was in the ocean 105 km (65 miles) southwest of Padang at a depth of 30 km.


Singapore's Channel News Asia said residents of high-rise apartments in the city state reported feeling their buildings swaying.

Where next?

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41018000/gif/_41018067_earthquake_3quakes_map416.gif

apparently the tip of West Java is a possibility.......
the epicenter will continue to shift downwards

hey yesterday (10 april 2005 SUNDAY) EARTHQUAKE again at the city of Padang at around 6.35pm

MEASURING 7.3 ON RITCHER SCALE

Alvin already posted the news. :)

cheers

Where next?

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41018000/gif/_41018067_earthquake_3quakes_map416.gif

Seismic Monitoring ....

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/views/eveday_big//imgs/topMap.eveday_big.gif

And ...

Cool .... Online Realtime Seismograph .... made using Java ( .. not Sumatra eh ... :) )

http://benioff.geol.wwu.edu/seismolet.html

cool pic, but what do the symbols mean?


Plea for calm over '1000-goat sacrifice' SMS
April 12, 2005 - 5:32PM

An appeal to sacrifice 1,000 goats following a spate of natural disasters has Indonesia's beleaguered president appealing for calm.

After cataclysmic tsunami, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which have left more than 224,000 Indonesians dead or missing across Sumatra and surrounding islands, a flood of SMS warnings abound that the country's capital Jakarta is next.

The quakes have steadily been moving south after a devastating magnitude 9.3 quake struck Aceh on Boxing Day.

The quake, one of the largest ever recorded, triggering tsunamis which swept across the Indian Ocean, swallowing entire coastal communities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Two weeks ago another powerful tremor hit the surfing paradise of Nias island off the north Sumatra coast, killing more than 600 people and leaving thousands more homeless.

On Sunday, an earthquake hit the west Sumatra capital Padang, causing minimal damage but prompting panic that saw thousands of residents flee to higher ground fearing fresh tsunamis.

And overnight terrified villagers fled homes around Padang after the 2,599 meter volcano Mt Talang erupted, spewing ash for more than a kilometre around its peak.

Advertisement
AdvertisementAn SMS appeal went out in conspiracy and superstition-crazy Indonesia that Jakarta would soon follow and be hit by tsunamis or quakes.

The chain text message appealed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take action.

"Mr President, please sacrifice 1,000 goats," the mysterious SMS pleaded.

But Yudhoyono shook off the plea while hosting a function at the State Palace.

"If I complied with this extraordinary and unique request, I couldn't come to the disaster site or control emergency requests," the former general said.

"We should bring ourselves closer to God and pray not not to be given more difficult tests."

Yudhoyono said he had asked Indonesia's police chief General Da'i Bachtiar to investigate the source of the mysterious SMS appeal.

"It's not good," he said, adding that if there any warning of an earthquake or tsunami in Jakarta, it would be instantly broadcast through the media. "Don't be afraid," he said.

He said all the quakes and eruptions could be explained scientifically by recent movements in the earth's crust.

"So don't make any superstition about them," Yudhoyono said.

"Even if I sacrificed 1,000 goats, disasters in Indonesia will not end."

AAP

if the magenta dots represent area having risk of eartquake, basically, on in Kalimantan which is save.

As what Yama said, 'Where's next', it's getting closer to Java... Take care!

Hopefully not....... dont tell me Anak Krakatoa is waking up from its slumber..

Mt. Talang near Padang has erupted, sending outbursts of ash accompanied by loud sounds 3 times over the last day.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050412/i/r2843154989.jpg

Indonesia: Tsunami Relief and Resurgent Nationalism

The massive scale of the reconstruction effort in post-tsunami Aceh would be a challenge for any government. Little wonder, then, that the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has welcomed the billions of dollars pledged in foreign support and assistance.

But there have also been conflicting signals. Government spokespeople have said that foreign agencies providing relief in Aceh will be 'screened', and only those playing a role truly commensurate with reconstruction work will be allowed to stay. The Banda Aceh immigration office has said that foreigners in the province will be required to report every two weeks. Government officials say that Indonesia must be able to show it can deal with its own problems.

Already, one major agency has been required to leave. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCR) still had approximately US$33 million to spend on relief when it wound up its Aceh operations in late March. Government officials said that because the UNHCR's mandate was to assist people displaced between states, rather than within them, it had no place in Aceh. The coordinating minister for social affairs, Alwi Shihab, also signalled concern that the body might encourage asylum claims.

Foreign governments and the big international agencies know that the government views their role in Aceh's reconstruction as important. But there is no question also that the conflicting signals and restrictions are causing uncertainty among foreign relief workers on the ground. They are also giving rise to anxiety among some tsunami victims. National newspapers have run many stories quoting anxious Acehnese worried about what will happen to the emergency and housing assistance they are receiving from international groups.

Part of the explanation for suspicions about foreign help is security-related. The secessionist conflict in Aceh remains a source of anxiety for many Indonesian nationalists. Security officials have long suspected that hidden foreign hands have supported the separatist movement. There is acute sensitivity to any criticism of government policy or behaviour in the province.

This intersection of security and nationalism should remind us of another country in the region. In mid-March, China's parliament passed an 'anti-secession law' aimed squarely at Taiwan, in just the latest demonstration of China's increasingly assertive nationalism. Much media and academic attention in recent years has been focused on the new Chinese nationalism, but there has been little appreciation of a similar wave of nationalist sentiment in Indonesia.

In China, the new nationalism is partly an _expression of growing economic strength and confidence. In Indonesia it is the reverse. Many Indonesians feel that their country has been subjected to unacceptable humiliations in recent years. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 not only worsened the living standards of many, it also brought obvious and extended foreign intervention in the economy, in the form of IMF packages and foreign buy-outs of domestic firms. Many Indonesians were also angered by the 'loss' of East Timor in 1999 after an Australian-led United Nations military intervention.

Aceh is not the only place where the new nationalism is evident. Throughout March, the Indonesian media was full of fervent and sometimes blood-curdling reporting of a dispute with Malaysia over a potentially oil rich stretch of ocean off the Eastern coast of Borneo. Local newspapers reported that Indonesian troops were ready to go into action on the border, while demonstrators in some cities revived the 1960s konfrontasi-era slogan of 'Crush Malaysia.'

Indonesian nationalism was a mighty force in the twentieth century. It transformed a diverse Dutch colony into an independent nation-state and pioneer of the non-aligned movement. It was a force that motivated many Indonesians to make great sacrifices to free their country and advance it economically and socially. But at times it led to suspicion and hostility of outsiders, and repressive and centralised policies at home. Its resurgence in new forms today deserves serious attention.


WATCHPOINT: Indonesian nationalist sentiment must be taken into consideration not only in the context of the relief effort, but also as a potentially important ingredient in domestic and regional politics.

Edward Aspinall
The University of Sydney

20 convicted Australian pedophiles tried to travel to tsunami-hit countries: Report

CANBERRA (AP): About 20 convicted Australian pedophilesunsuccessfully tried to travel to Indonesia and Thailand immediately after the Dec. 26 tsunami to prey on vulnerable children, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The pedophiles were recorded on a new Australian child sex offender register which requires them to tell police where and when they intend to relocate or travel, The Weekend Australian newspaper said.

Police alerted Indonesian and Thai authorities that the men intended to visit early this year and those governments denied them visas, Western Australia state police Det. Sgt. Martin Voyez told the newspaper.

"After the tsunami, a large number of Indonesian and Thai children were displaced and became very vulnerable," Voyez was quoted as saying.

"This attracted a higher number of pedophiles to those areas than usual."

The newspaper did not say how many pedophiles would usually apply to travel to those countries.

Voyez told the newspaper Indonesia and Thailand always denied entry to registered pedophiles. He wasn't immediately available for comment on Saturday. (**)

absolutely disgusting.

:D

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050419/capt.jak10104190257.indonesia_tsunami_chan_jak101.jpg
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, greets Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan prior to their meeting at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 19, 2005. Chan is currently on a three-day trip to the country to visit Aceh province to raise awareness of the continuing needs of the tsunami victims. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050419/capt.jak10204190316.indonesia_tsunami__jak102.jpg
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center, gestures as he poses for photographers with, from left to right, Miss Indonesia Imelda Fransisca, Miss World 2004 Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia of Peru, and Hong Kong actors Jackie Chan and Eric Tsang prior to their meeting at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 19, 2005. The celebrities are on a three-day trip to the country to visit Aceh province to raise awareness of the continuing needs of the tsunami victims. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Jackie Chan wows Aceh children


The faces of children at the Lampeuneurut Children's Center in Banda Aceh light up. Their waiting game ends when they spot the familiar face of Hong Kong action movie star Jackie Chan.

"The one in orange is Jackie Chan," an awed nine-year-old Muhammad whispers to his two friends.

The star of Shanghai Noon and Rush Hour made a brief visit to the tsunami-hit Banda Aceh on Monday, as part of a goodwill gesture to victims of the Dec. 26 massive disaster.

To their frustration, Muhammad and other children could at first only watch their idol from a distance as Chan was mobbed by journalists and a throng of adult fans.

However, later when a photo session was held in a tent, several lucky children finally got to stand next to the star.

Fitrah, 10, could not hide her happiness when posing with her idol. "He looks very different from the movies, he's much more good looking in reality," said the girl, who said she loved Chan's kung fu movies.

Fitrah and Muhammad were two children who regularly attended the center's programs to help them recover from the tsunami trauma.

In his tour of Aceh, Chan -- who was accompanied by Miss World 2005 Peruvian Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia, British Olympic gold medalist athlete Daley Thompson and several other Hong Kong movie stars -- distributed US$4.8 million in donations.

At the children's center, he was welcomed with an Acehnese dance and later looked at the photos of children who were still searching for their missing families.

Chan also watched a documentary featuring Acehnese children and smiled as a child in the film said: "I want to be like Jackie Chan". (JP/Nani Afrida)

I think this is the biggest infrastructure project so far.

---

U.S Starts Road Building Project In Aceh

Leupung, Aceh Besar ( Berita ) : The US government awarded a multi-million contract to an Indonesian road construction firm in a groundbreaking ceremony here on Thursday marking the start of the reconstruction of the Banda Aceh - Muelaboh road which had been seriously damaged in last year's December strong earthquake and subsequent killer tsunamis.

Head of the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Charge d'Affaires of the US embassy, W Lewis Amselem, USAID director Williem M. Frej, acting Aceh governor Azwar Abubakar and other local figures attended the ceremony.

The US$240 million road reconstruction project includes the building of 20 kms of new roads, and the rehabilitation and maintenance of the 80-km Banda Aceh - Lamno road in Aceh Jaya.

Lewis said the project was designed to ensure mobility, improve communication, create local jobs and increase the existing potentials for economic growth in the tsunami-devastated region.

"To build the road, we mus build 110 bridges. It is the true meaning of this partnership, building a bridge between the two countries," he added.

The 240-km road connecting the western Banda Aceh-Meulaboh coastal areas is an economic backbone of the province linking Aceh with Nort Sumatra.

William M. Frej, meanwhile, said that the project served as the US government and people's support to the post-tsunami Aceh recovery project.

"USAID is committed to involve the community in the reconstruction process and through a contruction firm will enable the Acehnese people to increase their earnings," he added.

Both Kuntoro Mangkusubroto and Azwar Abubakar on behalf of the Acehnese people expressed gratitude to the US government for its assistance in the recovery of the province's infrastructure. ( ant )

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050825/capt.jak11108251200.indonesia_aceh_road_jak111.jpg

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050825/i/r1143532518.jpg

Earthquake hit Aceh today 28/8/2005 21.09 WIB

Banda Aceh Diguncang Gempa 5 SR (http://jkt2.detiknews.com/indexfr.php?url=http://jkt2.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2005/bulan/08/tgl/28/time/22471/idnews/430673/idkanal/10)

poor aceh people...... ;( ;(

Khairul Ikhwan - detikcom

Aceh Besar - Memasuki komplek Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri (SMAN) 1 Lhoong, seolah memasuki Bandara Sepinggan, Balik Papan, Kalimantan Timur. Mulai dari gerbang masuk sekolah hingga gedung aula, penuh dengan ornamen Kalimantan. Padahal sekolah ini berada di Kabupaten Aceh Besar, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD).

SMAN I berada di Desa Cundin, Kecamatan Lhoong, Kabupaten Aceh Besar, Jalan Banda Aceh-Meulaboh. Jaraknya sekitar 56 kilometer dari Banda Aceh, ibukota NAD. Ornamen Kalimantan yang melekat di sekolah ini, tidak terlepas dari bantuan masyarakat Balik Papan. Menggenapi sumbangan yang juga diberikan Gap Inc, sebuah perusahaan garmen yang berpusat di San Fransisco, Amerika Serikat.

Dari sisi bangunan, dapat dikatakan ini merupakan sekolah termegah yang pernah di bangun di Aceh Besar. Lebih dari itu, justru sekolah ini dianggap sebagai titik balik geliat pendidikan di Aceh Besar.

Saat peresmian operasional sekolah ini pada Sabtu (22/4/2006), terlihat wajah-wajah cerah para siswa, yang sebelumnya sempat menumpang belajar pada sebuah sekolah swasta yang selamat dari tsunami.

Dengan biaya Rp 5,3 miliar, sekolah ini menjanjikan fasilitas yang lengkap, konstruksi bangunan yang wah, serta fasilitas ekstrakurikuler yang komplit. Di areal seluas 1,3 hektar ini, berdiri lima gedung. Gedung untuk 12 kelas, gedung aula, gedung perpustakaan yang berlantai dua, gedung laboratorium dan gedung untuk perumahan guru. Selain itu ada lapangan basket, bola voli, dan lapangan bola.

Kemegahan SMAN 1 Lhoong saat ini, tentu sangat berbeda dibandingkan saat 26 Desember 2004 lalu, ketika tsunami menghancurkan seluruh bangunan. Hanya menyisakan sedikit berkas pertapakan. Selebihnya menjadi pantai.

Kejadian ini juga mengakibatkan sekitar 100 orang murid dan guru meninggal dunia. Kini di sekolah baru yang lokasinya berjarak sekitar tiga kilometer dari pertapakan lama, hanya ada 238 murid dan enam guru. Belum ada kepala sekolah.

Sekolah Unggulan

Pembangunan gedung baru sekolah ini, tak lepas dari kiprah Dompet Dhuafa (DD), lembaga amil zakat yang berpusat di Jakarta. Presiden Direktur DD, Rahmat Riyadi, menyebutkan, hingga tiga minggu pascatsunami, jalur darat menuju Lhoong masih terputus jalur, baik dari Banda Aceh maupun Meulaboh.

Namun, saat itu DD telah masuk membantu rescue, menyediakan kapal laut untuk angkutan logistik untuk warga yang selamat dari tsunami. Dari 28 desa yang ada di Lhoong, hanya empat desa yang bebas terjangan tsunami.

"Karena prihatin banyaknya sekolah yang rusak akibat tsunami di kecamatan ini, DD melakukan serangkaian pertemuan dengan dengan Dinas Pendidikan Aceh Besar. Akhirnya disepakati rencana kerjasama membangun SMAN 1 Lhoong. Lahan pertapakan sudah tersedia, yakni sumbangan warga sekitar. Sedangkan dana bersumber dari bantuan Pemkot Balik Papan dan Gap Inc," kata Rahmat.

Pemkot Balik Papan membantu Rp 2,404 miliar, sementara dari Gap Inc. sebanyak Rp 2,926 miliar. Sementara DD yang mempertemukan kedua lembaga ini, selanjutnya bertindak selaku pihak yang bertanggungjawab terhadap pembangunan dan manajemen operasional sekolah hingga tiga tahun ke depan, sebelum dikembalikan kepada pemerintah.

Dalam pelaksanaannya, dana yang berumber dari Pemkot Balik Papan dipergunakan untuk membangun gedung aula ruang kelas gapura. Sementara bangunan lainnya dari dana sumbangan Gap Inc. Pembangunannya relatif cepat, sekitar 7 bulan, sejak peletakan batu pertama pada 13 Agustus 2005.

Bagi masyarakat Lhong pembangunan ini justru menjadi anugerah yang luar biasa. "Ini sekolah terbaik yang pernah dibangun di Aceh Besar. Kami sangat bersyukur. Ini anugerah yang tak terhingga," kata Kepala Dinas Pendidikan Aceh Besar Zulkifli.

Menurut Rahmat Riyadi, dalam operasional sekolah ini, pihak DD dan jejaringnya akan menangani managemen sekolah hingga tiga tahun ke depan. Ini dilakukan untuk menjamin mutu pendidikan di SMAN I Lhoong, yang diharapkan menjadi sekolah unggulan di NAD.

Pada tahapan berikutnya, akan dilakukan penambahan guru. Setidaknya sekolah ini membutuhkan 20 orang guru, sementara saat ini hanya ada enam orang. Guru-guru baru nantinya, merupakan orang yang berhasil lulus serangkaian tes yang diterapkan DD. Tes juga akan dilakukan terhadap 10 calon guru yang rencananya akan ditempatkan Dinas Pendidikan NAD di sekolah ini.

"Maksudnya agar standarnya seperti yang diharapkan, sehingga kualitas lulusan juga menggembirakan," tambah Rahmat. (wiq)

http://www.detiknews.com/indexfr.php?url=http://www.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2006/bulan/04/tgl/22/time/224048/idnews/580460/idkanal/10

Some pictures of reconstruction nearly 2 years after the disaster.

http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-21122006110514.jpg

http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-18122006052356.jpg

http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-18122006054153.jpg

http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-21122006112200.jpg

Nias

http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-18122006053141.jpg

Earthquake-proof Nias architecture
http://e-aceh-nias.org/upload/Foto-18122006053340.jpg

The houses look pretty small and cheap, a bit like transmigration houses, but they are fine. I'm hoping the region will really start to improve now. There are aid groups focused on the short-term, the long-term, economics, ecology, micro and macro issues, etc. Now that there is peace and healthy democracy, Aceh has a chance to be a model for the region. Hopefully Papua with its 45% poverty will begin to see some programs like this.

Manado Diguncang Gempa 6,5 SR, Berpotensi Tsunami

Laporan Wartawan Kompas Jean Rizal Layuck
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -Wilayah Manado dan sekitarnya, pada sekitar pukul 18.27 WIB, Minggu (21/1) diguncang gempa berkekuatan 6,5 skala richter dan berpotensi tsunami. Dalam peringatan yang diberikan oleh Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika (BMG), Jakarta, lewat media massa disebutkan gempa berpusat di 160 kilometer tenggara Manado di kedalaman 51 kilometer.
Sementara itu, warga kota Manado dan sekitarnya diliputi kepanikan, karena potensi tsunami yang menyertai gempa tersebut. Seperti yang dipantau Kompas di kawasan Manado Utara, yang sebagian besar wilayahnya adalah pesisir pantai. Warga di wilayah itu berhambran keluar rumah sambil menyelamatkan harta bendanya ke daerah perbukitan. Kepanikan semakin mencekam karena proses evakuasi itu terjadi di tengah-tengah padamnya aliran listrik.
Gempa Susulan
Sementara itu, selang beberapa menit kemudian, terjadi gempa susulan di wilayah yang sama. Kali ini sesuai pengumuman BMG, gempa berkekuatan 5,5 SR tersebut berpusat di 150 kilometer sebelah tenggara Manado, dengan kedalaman 76 kilometer dan tak berpotensi tsunami.
http://www.kompas.com/photos/NASIONAL/manado-gempa.jpg

^ gosh more earthquake :(

hope they're okey..

Indo kebanyakan dosa kali
Aduh itu pejabat udah dikasi warning berkali2 kok blm tobat ya :ohno:

^^ kok yg menderita rakyatnya yaa...

banyak amid gempa nya ...