At least 58 killed in Bengkulu quake

At least 58 killed in Bengkulu quake

JAKARTA (JP): A massive earthquake measuring up to 7.9 on the
Richter scale and scores of aftershocks shook Bengkulu on Sumatra
island, killing at least 58 people and leaving hundreds injured,
officials and medical staff said on Monday.

In the worst-hit city of Bengkulu several buildings were
leveled with the ground and hundreds more were heavily damaged
after the quake struck at around 11:30 Sunday night, when most
people were asleep.

It was the second major earthquake to jolt Indonesia within
less than two months. A quake measuring 5.2 on Richter scale and
a subsequent tsunami hit Luwuk-Banggai island in Central Sulawesi
early last month, leaving 45 people dead.

Police and residents combed through rubble on Monday in a
desperate search for survivors, local officials said.

Panicked residents fled outdoors where they set up makeshift
tent villages. Power was cut and water supplies disrupted in the
area. Antara said the quake also damaged some 3,000 of 25,000
phone lines in the provincial capital and another 1,800 lines in
southern Bengkulu.

Bengkulu Governor Hasan Zen told reporters in Jakarta before
going back to Bengkulu that the hardest hit region so far was the
island of Enggano off the coast. "On the island, about 90 percent
(of the structures there) are damaged," he said without
elaborating.

He added that Sunday's quake was worse than another major one
in 1979.

Director of the local state hospital M. Zayadi Hosen said the
death toll quickly rose within less than 12 hours since the
initial earthquake claimed 12 lives.

He said operations had been moved into nearby parking lots and
patients were evacuated for fear of aftershocks. The local
military set up a big tent to shelter the patients.

"Cracks are everywhere in the hospital buildings, and ceilings
have collapsed. To make matter worse, we are running out of
medicine and blood," Zayadi told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Antara said patients being operated on without anesthetic
could be heard screaming.

Zayadi said people injured were admitted to the local military
hospital and Raflesia private hospital. By afternoon, only about
60 people remained in the hospitals for medical treatment, he
added.

Officials said the local airport closed operations, with staff
there saying the navigational system and power generators had
been damaged.

Head of the local branch of state electricity company PLN
Suwajo Trojo was quoted by the news agency as saying that he
estimated the power failure would black out Bengkulu for at least
the next seven days.

Antara said vehicles owned by the now defunct information
ministry were seen busy announcing by loud speaker the week-long
blackout on Monday afternoon.

Officials were also quoted as saying that the local airport,
banking, shops and businesses would be closed down for at least
three days.

Following the announcement, hordes of people were then seen
stocking up on food supplies and other basic necessities at the
few shops that opened for business on Monday.

The earthquake and a first major aftershock were felt up to
some 640 kilometers away in Jakarta and in Singapore.

Officials also said that the death toll would likely continue
to rise as they had not been able to contact the worst-hit areas
in southern Bengkulu districts.

The initial shock, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, was
followed by a powerful aftershock measuring 6.7, the U.S.
Geological Survey said.

The Meteorology and Geophysical office in Jakarta put the size
of the initial temblor at 7.3 and said it was centered in the
Indian Ocean some 100 kilometers southwest of Bengkulu at a depth
of 30 meters.

Earthquake expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology
(ITB) Sigit Sukmono said Sunday's quake resulted from a movement
in the Indo-Australia tectonic plate.

"Relief aid for the earthquake victims in Bengkulu will be
sent immediately and the technical aspects are currently being
discussed by the Ministry of Health," President Abdurrahman Wahid
told a news conference in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Navy spokesman Commodore T. Ontowiryo was quoted by
Antara as saying on Monday that two warships had already been
dispatched to Bengkulu to deliver food and medical supplies.

As well as Jakarta and Singapore, the temblor was also felt in
the coastal areas of West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Lampung and
West Java, but there were no immediate reports of damage or
casualties there. (25/edt/byg/rms)