Life returns slowly to Aceh
Earthquakes still shake Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam six months after the Dec. 26 tsunami.
Banda Aceh residents say the city is jolted every two or three days, mostly by minor quakes. An unusually large one occurred on Sunday June 5.
Nevertheless, city life has almost returned to the way it was before the tsunami. Most shops, restaurants and offices have reopened. The streets are clean and the traffic has come back to life.
That is in complete contrast to what happened in the days after the tsunami, when chaos and confusion reigned.
Yet, a lot of work still needs to be done in coastal as well as remote areas of Aceh province. Coastal villages like those in Lhok Nga, Lampuuk or Ulee Lheue are still largely untouched.
Only a few of the thousands of villagers who lived there before have returned to their plots of land and live in makeshift tents, as most of their houses have been swept away by the giant waves.
The tsunami, the most intense in recent history, killed more than 129,000 people in Indonesia, with 90,000 more unaccounted for. It also made more than 450,000 people homeless.
Reconstruction will go on for years before the whole province is restored. Apart from Aceh and Nias in Indonesia, the tsunami affected more than a dozen countries, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region.
-- Text and photos by Harry Bhaskara
Photo A
Corrugated iron and debris lie everywhere in what used to be a coastal village in Lampuuk, in the northern part of Banda Aceh. Lampuuk was among the hardest-hit areas in the province.
Photo B
A human skull sits atop a muddied tree trunk in the village of Lampisang, Lamkruet district, Banda Aceh. Excavators work around the clock to clear debris from the village. The debris, taken from various parts of Banda Aceh, is temporarily dumped in the village before being transferred to a permanent dumpsite.
Photo C
This ruined house is testament to the mighty forces unleashed by giant waves that wrought havoc in the otherwise beautiful province of Aceh on Dec. 26. The house lies next to Baet village, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. The dwellings of other villagers, around the house, were completely flattened.
Photo D
Mochtar, 35, stands on crutches in the village of Lamkruet, Banda Aceh. Mochtar, widowed after he lost his wife and two children, hopes that he can return to his former job as a driver. To achieve that, though, he will need to use an artificial limb.
Photo E
Women stand in rows while at prayer in a partly damaged mosque in Lampuuk district, in Banda Aceh's coastal area. The mosque sustained only minor damage and is mostly intact, despite its coastal location. Houses in the mosque's vicinity were swept away by the giant waves.
Photo F
A partly destroyed house partially obstructs a road in Lhok Nga, Banda Aceh. The house was lifted and moved a few meters away from its original location by the powerful waves.
Photo G
A 250-ton ship lies next to a house in Ulee Lheue district, Banda Aceh. The vessel was picked up by the giant waves and carried about five-kilometers inland from the coast before grounding atop two houses. Locals say nine bodies were buried under the ship.