By Achmad Sukarsono
Reuters

Saturday 27 May 2006

Yogyakarta, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake struck around Indonesia's royal city of Yogyakarta on Saturday, killing more than 3,000 people as houses and buildings collapsed near ancient heritage sites.

As darkness fell in the heartland of Indonesia's main island of Java, thousands prepared to spend the night outside ruined homes or in the grounds of mosques, churches and schools.

"It's pitch dark. We have to use candles and we are sitting outside now. We are too scared to sleep inside. The radio keeps saying there will be more quakes. We still feel the tremors," said Tjut Nariman, who lives on the outskirts of Yogyakarta.

The 6.2 magnitude quake struck just after dawn and was the third major tremor to devastate Indonesia in 18 months, the worst being the quake on December 26, 2004 and its resulting tsunami which left some 170,000 people dead or missing around Aceh.

Indonesia sits on the Asia-Pacific's so-called "Ring of Fire" marked by heavy volcanic and tectonic activity.

Many bodies were still buried under rubble as authorities struggled to get aid into the region. Several countries offered medical relief teams and emergency supplies.

Sitting with his wife and three children outside his wrecked house in Kembang Songo village, Sarmiji, 44, told Reuters he had received no aid so far.

"Everything is destroyed here. My house is in ruins, all houses are ruined ... I have a neighbor whose 11 family members were killed instantly," he said.

The Social Affairs Ministry's disaster task force in Jakarta said the death toll had reached 3,002 as of late Saturday.

Near Sarmiji's flattened house, several bodies lay among the wreckage. Hundreds of villagers sat outside ruined homes looking dazed and confused.

Telephone services were erratic, especially in rural areas and the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Power was out, although streets in the city center were lit. Yogyakarta's airport was closed due to a damaged runway.

Fear

Sopar, an official from the national coordinating body for disaster, said: "We will send logistics tomorrow to the affected areas ... such as food, blankets, sarongs, tents, generators."

The epicenter of the quake, which struck just before 6 a.m. (2300 GMT), was offshore. Many people feared the quake would be followed by a tsunami and fled coastal homes for higher ground.

No tsunami came but the fear lingered on into the night.

Yogyakarta is near Mount Merapi, a volcano on top alert for a major eruption. A vulcanologist said the quake was not caused by the volcano, but its activity increased after the shock.

Yogyakarta city is about 25 km (16 miles) north of the Indian Ocean coast and 440 km (275 miles) east of Jakarta. Yogyakarta province, which includes the city, has a population of 3.2 million. Central Java province also suffered damage.

One staff member at a hotel opposite Borobudur temple told Reuters the ancient Buddhist complex was intact with no signs of damage, although several structures nearby collapsed.

Yogyakarta's centuries-old royal palaces and the nearby Borobudur temple complex are prime tourist attractions.

The Prambanan Hindu temple complex near Jakarta suffered some damage but the main structure was intact.

Especially hard-hit was Bantul town and the surrounding area, about 25 km from Yogyakarta city. One official said the Bantul region accounted for more than 2,000 of the dead.

At Solo airport, school teacher Muhammad Yusan told Reuters he had left Aceh, more than 1,000 miles away, that morning to try to reach his family in Bantul.

"I lost my father, aunt and niece, but I can't confirm the rest because I can't get hold of them," Yusan said. "I think Bantul is flattened because most houses there are poorly built and old."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Bantul and Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said medical teams had been sent to the hardest-hit areas. The European Union, the United States, Japan and UNICEF were among those announcing immediate aid.
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May 27, 2006 - 3:13PM

Hundreds of people were killed and injured when an earthquake shook the area around Indonesia's ancient royal city and tourism centre Yogyakarta early today.

The 6.2 magnitude quake caused extensive damage to the region and triggered heightened activity in nearby Mount Merapi volcano, which has been spewing clouds of hot ash, gas and lava for weeks, a scientist said.

One newsagency says at least 211 died in the earthquake. CNN said the toll was at least 137. Five and half hours after the quake hundreds more injured and dead continued to arrive at hospitals in the region.

Most of the dead had head injuries and broken bones from collapsing buildings. Hospital patients had been moved outside due to fears of aftershocks.

"We are overwhelmed with bodies," said Subandi, a morgue official at Bethseda hospital, Yogyakarta, where 56 dead bodies lay.

The quake happened just before 6am local time. It had a magnitude of 6.2 according to the US Geological Survey and an epicentre in the sea about 50 kilometres south of Yogyakarta and at a depth of 33 kilometres. The Jakarta earthquake centre said it did not cause a tsunami.

An official at the Sarjito hospital morgue said 36 bodies had arrived there.

In the town of Bantul, 55kms south of Yogyakarta, the local hospital's information officer, Kardi, said: "At least 10 people are dead, hundreds are hurt."

Kardi said there was widespread panic in Bantul and a desperate need for more doctors and nurses to treat the injured.

A hospital nurse in Yogyakarta reported at least five deaths there from the quake.

Yogyakarta airport was badly damaged, with the roof of an airport section collapsing and at least one person trapped, Metro TV reported.

A broadcast showed workers trying to release a person trapped in the rubble of the building. It was not known if the person was still alive.

All flights to and from the airport have been cancelled. Arrivals have been diverted to the airport in the nearby city of Solo.

A witness in Yogyakarta said many people there had fled their homes while thousands of others from areas around the city were trying to get to it, many fearing a tsunami.

One Yogyakarta resident, Nani Kasidjo, said: "I was having a morning walk and suddenly I felt dizzy and then people ran out of their houses screaming 'earthquake!'."

Roads leading to the coast were cracked and electricity was off, witnesses said.

Yogyakarta is in the south of Indonesia's main island of Java, 440kms east of Jakarta and close to Mount Merapi, the volcano that has been threatening a major eruption for weeks. A vulcanoligist in Yogyakarta said the quake was tectonic and not caused by the volcano but the quake's impact could increase Merapi's activity.

Volcano watchers are keeping a wary eye on a major lava dome atop Mount Merapi that appears close to collapse, the event vulcanologists fear could trigger a major deadly eruption.

When Merapi erupted in 1994, most of the 70 deaths were caused by the outpouring of hot ash and other material following the collapse of a lava dome.

The volcano killed 1300 people in 1930.