Two more victims bring death toll to 19 in Nabire earthquake
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two more bodies were found on Sunday evening, bringing the number of people killed in the devastating Nabire earthquake to 19, a senior police officer said on Monday.
The new fatalities included a two-month-old baby who was found beneath a pile of debris after the Friday earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale.
"We have received information that so far 19 people have died," said Paniai Police deputy chief Comr. Wempy Batlayeri on Monday as quoted by AFP.
The police officer said residents were still gripped by fear as aftershocks continued to rattle the town on Monday.
Many residents, including patients at hospitals in the city, have chosen to remain outdoors for fear of additional aftershocks.
Seismologists have so far recorded 368 aftershocks, with the most powerful measuring 5 on the Richter scale, said Guntur Seno from the meteorological agency in Jayapura as reported by the Associated Press.
The Indonesian Red Cross is helping to provide assistance to victims, including medicine, tents and mosquito nets. Wempy said more tents were needed.
There have so far been no reports of outbreaks of post- earthquake diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and malaria. However, health workers are anticipating the worst.
Earlier, an official at the Papua Health Office said the number of health workers in Nabire was sufficient to handle the current situation.
Another encouraging development is that communication with Nabire has largely returned to normal.
Muhamad Nada, a spokesman for telecommunications company PT Telkom's Makassar branch, which oversees Papua, said telephone communication into and out of Nabire had returned to about 70 percent of normal.
Also on Monday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla met with several ministers to discuss how to help the earthquake victims. The meeting came one day after Paniai Regent A.P. Youw called for assistance from the central government.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah, Minister of Health Siti Fadillah Supari, Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto, Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa and Director General of the State Treasury Mulia Nasution, who was representing Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar.
The ministers are scheduled to visit the city to assess the damage and decide what steps will be taken to help the victims and rebuild the town.
Some 150 buildings, including schools and places of worship were destroyed in the powerful earthquake.
Friday's earthquake occurred nine months after another major quake in the same city killed 37 people, injured 600 others and left much of the city in ruins.
The earthquake in Nabire took place only two weeks after a major earthquake rocked Alor regency in East Nusa Tenggara, killing 34 and injured hundreds of others.
Also, a senior government official said on Monday the government planned to introduce tough construction guidelines to make schools in earthquake-prone regions better able to withstand quakes.
The Ministry of National Education will also prepare special programs to teach students what to do in the event of an earthquake, said Indra Djati Sidi, the director general of elementary and secondary school education at the ministry, as quoted by Antara news agency.