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.
Visit
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)