Indonesian earthquake: Continued support for survivors
30/05/2006
As emergency assistance begins to reach the survivors of Saturday’s earthquake, the full extent of the devastation is becoming clear.
The Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry reported that the 6.2 magnitude quake claimed almost 5,000 lives, injured 20,000, and left more than 200,000 homeless. It is thought that the Merapi volcano, which is still active and close to the earthquake’s location, could have been the cause. Despite the recording of a high intensity earthquake in the sea, seismologists have ruled out another tsunami, although they believe an earthquake could hit the coast any time.
Students from the SOS Youth Home in Yogyakarta, assisted by staff from SOS Children's Village Semarang, have set up five temporary shelters, from where food, tents, medicine and gasoline-powered water pumps are being distributed to those affected by the earthquake. The supplies are being brought from Semarang, which is a two-hour drive by car from Yogyakarta.
To make best use of resources, SOS Children is concentrating its emergency relief efforts in three areas: Timoho, Bantul and Prambanan. Three houses in Bantul, which were used as "holiday homes" for children cared for by SOS Children, were destroyed in the earthquake. SOS Children was the first organisation to provide emergency assistance to the survivors in Prambanan.
SOS Children's Villages is sending two medical doctors from SOS Children's Village Lembang, in the North of Java, to Yogyakarta to provide medical assistance at the shelters. Additional SOS staff will travel to the area to further assist the ongoing relief efforts.
Report from the field
Read a report from one of our staff in the field: A Day in Imogiri
Relevant Countries: Indonesia.