Tsunami hysteria haunts C. Sulawesi
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Thousands of people in Central Sulawesi who fled to the highlands because they feared a tsunami would hit the province after Monday's strong earthquake, remained in shelters on Tuesday despite no further reports of aftershocks.
Only a few refugees returned home, including some students who returned to school after a day after the early morning 6.2- magnitude quake destroyed or damaged at least 23 buildings near its epicenter.
Many government offices resumed services to the public, and traditional markets and shops in the provincial capital of Palu reopened.
However, Antara news agency reported that more than 10,000 residents from Palu and the Donggala regency had refused to return home and continued to live in makeshift tents.
Many housing areas in Palu and villages in Donggala remained deserted, while other refugees who had returned to their homes slept outside to avoid the effect of possible aftershocks.
Government officials from the provincial government and the Palu and Donggala local administrations visited the makeshift tents in Paneki village and west Palu, to try to persuade the refugees to leave.
Aswan, a 23-year-old refugee in Ngatabaru, located some 200 meters above sea level, said he and his family fled their home in Petabo, south Palu, after the quake.
They were still staying in the refuge area because they believed rumors there would be stronger aftershocks and subsequent tsunami tidal waves, he said.
"We don't want to gamble with our lives because tsunamis kill in minutes and nobody could do anything to save us," Aswan said.
Ani, a 52-year-old mother of four from Dolo, Donggala, said she had brought her children to a refuge camp in Kawatuna because her house was badly damaged by the disaster.
A security guard at Mutiara Airport in Palu said that more than 7,000 Palu residents were still camping in forest areas around the airport.
The Undata Hospital was also deserted and dozens of seriously ill patients had been moved to makeshift tents in the hospital's parking area. More than 100 other patients had been taken home by their relatives.
Hospital director Dr. Riri Lamadjido said that six terminally ill patients in intensive care and several others suffering serious diseases were transferred to the makeshift tents in anticipation of stronger aftershocks.
"It's only temporary," Riri said. Many patients taken by their relatives following the earthquake had now returned to the hospital because they still needed medical treatment, she said.
Suko Prayitno Adhi, chief of Palu's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said it was unlikely there would be strong tremors or any resulting tsunamis in the immediate future.
Only extremely large undersea earthquakes, generally higher than magnitude-8, trigger tsunamis.