Bengkulu rocked by three fresh tremors

Bengkulu rocked by three fresh tremors

JAKARTA (JP): Three more earthquakes, measuring between 4.9
and 6 on the Richter scale, struck Bengkulu on Saturday.

National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency spokesman Waan
Tarmin said the strongest tremor jolted the province at 5 a.m.

Waan said the epicenter was located 253 kilometers southwest
of Bengkulu, some 74 kilometers below the Indian Ocean.

First quake hit the area at 1:32 a.m. with a magnitude of 4.9
on the Richter scale. The second was the strongest, while the
third tremor hit at 12:11 p.m., measuring 5.5 on the Richter
scale.

According to Waan, the powerful earthquake was also felt in
the Sumatra cities of Padang, Jambi, Palembang and Lampung, and
in Singapore.

By Saturday, more than 750 aftershocks had been recorded after
the devastating 7.3 earthquake which devastated the province on
Sunday.

According to Antara, another five people died on Friday night,
increasing the death toll to at least 90 with about 1,300 people
seriously wounded.

The official news agency did not elaborate on whether the
deaths were related to the aftershocks.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval as it is dotted with a
chain of volcanoes and sits atop earthquake zones that circle the
Pacific Ocean.

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Residents' frustration over the perceived slow government
reaction to the quake victims' plight boiled over on Saturday
when occupants of Kompi Timur Indah, a residential area in
Bengkulu, shanghaied visiting Coordinating Minister for Political
Affairs and Security Lt. Gen. (ret) Surjadi Soedirdja and
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Basri Hasanuddin and
forced them to inspect the damage to their houses.

"We guarantee your safety. We just want to ask you to give
attention to us," resident Mentri told Surjadi.

Residents also vented their frustration at the way aid was
trickling into the area.

"We just received four packets of instant noodles and one
liter of rice, while we know for a fact that foreign countries
sent huge relief aid," another resident, Arifin, told the two
ministers.

Bengkulu Governor Hasan Zen quickly promised to send more
food, tents and cooking utensils.

Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose mother Fatmawati
was from Bengkulu, will visit the province on Thursday.

Separately, State Logistics Agency (Bulog) head Rizal Ramli
promised to send 100 tons of rice to Bengkulu.

"We will not let people in the province starve," said Rizal.

The director of Muhammad Yunus General Hospital, Zayadi, in
Bengkulu also criticized the government for its slow response.

"We have not received any medical assistance from Jakarta. We
have to use all of our own supplies. Fortunately, we have had
Singaporean and Japanese paramedics helping us out," Zayadi said.

Representatives of foreign donors who traveled to Bengkulu had
difficulty finding accommodation due to the limited number of
hotels there.

"It is very difficult to find hotels here, while we are facing
a lot of work," said Yu Lu Yalong, a diplomat from the Republic
of China's Embassy in Jakarta. (prb)