Nabire picks up after quake
Nabire picks up after quake
Agencies, Jakarta
Residents of Nabire, Papua, struggled after Friday's deadly
tremor to reestablish some normalcy in their lives on Sunday, as
humanitarian aid started to pour into the country's easternmost
province.
Christians attended Sunday services, shops reopened for
business and public transport zoomed back on the streets after
two earthquakes in as many days.
"The people's enthusiasm was high today. They keep coming to
mass. We're trying to see this disaster from a positive side, and
it has strengthened our brotherhood," Rev. Boulevard Abram told
Reuters.
A churchgoer said his faith had helped him.
"This mass has strengthened my belief so that I can be
stronger in facing this disaster," said 50-year-old Elias Bakai,
whose home is in ruins.
Public transport was up and running, and some shops were open.
"I decided to open shop today, because I can see it's been
getting better since morning. More people are going into town,
looking for things," said Yulianti, who runs a general store.
Like other shopkeepers, however, she has moved her wares
outside in case of further aftershocks.
Two major aftershocks rattled the town on Sunday, preventing
local residents from returning home for fear of more quakes, as
the toll from the quake rose to 31.
The first aftershock in the morning measured 5.3 on the
Richter scale, while the magnitude of the second was not
immediately known, but seemed greater.
"Residents said the tremor in the afternoon was stronger than
in the morning," Fauzi, a seismology agency official, was quoted
by AFP.
A resident said the afternoon tremor sent people rushing out
of their homes.
"Power was up and we were starting to return to our houses,
but suddenly there was this strong aftershock and we ran out in a
panic. People screamed," Tornado told Elshinta radio.
He said electricity was cut off again following the
aftershock.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid started to pour into Nabire on
Sunday, with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) setting up medical
centers to treat injured victims.
A team of doctors from Jayapura treated patients outside the
badly damaged Nabire hospital. Health workers and local officials
said hundreds of people had been injured.
Responding to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's
call for the international community to provide relief aid, Japan
has donated generators, tents and clothes worth 13 million yen
(US$12.3 million).
A quake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale -- thought to be
the largest quake in the region since 2000 -- struck the
northwestern Papua town on Friday.
At least 33 aftershocks have been recorded since then,
including one measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale on Saturday, an
official said.
Papua military spokesman Colonel GT Situmorang said at least
31 had been killed and that the toll could rise further.
"That's according to the information I received last night. I
haven't received an update," he told AFP.
Authorities fear it could be days before the full extent of
the damage and casualties in rural areas and smaller villages
would be known. Friday's quake has damaged transportation,
electrical and communications facilities in the remote area.