2nd quake shakes Indonesia after temblor kills 467

By IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writer Irwan Firdaus, Associated Press Writer � 32 mins ago
PADANG, Indonesia � Rescue workers used excavators Thursday to pull out victims, some screaming in pain, from the heavy rubble of buildings felled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 529 people. The death toll was expected to rise.

The brunt of Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which originated in the sea off Sumatra island, appeared to have been borne by Padang town where 376 people were killed. Four other districts accounted for the remaining deaths.

The region was jolted by another powerful earthquake Thursday morning, causing damage but no reported fatalities.

More than 500 buildings including hotels, schools, hospitals and a mall were destroyed or damaged in Padang. Thousands of people were believed to be trapped in the rubble.

"Oh God, help me! help me!" Friska Yuniwati, a 30-year-old woman, screamed in pain, as she was carried to an ambulance in downtown Padang. She had been pulled out minutes earlier from the rubble of a house, her face covered in bruises and eyes shut.

Padang's main hospital, the state-run Djamil Hospital, was overwhelmed by the influx of victims and families. Dozens of injured people were being treated under tents outside the hospital, which was itself partly damaged.

"Let's not underestimate (the disaster). Let's be prepared for the worst. We will do everything we can to help the victims," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Jakarta before flying to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 and capital of West Sumatra province.

A total of 529 people were confirmed dead and 440 were seriously injured, the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center said. Thousands were believed trapped, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.

The president ordered the military to deploy all its crisis centers in Jakarta, West Sumatra and North Sumatra provinces and said the military will provide earth-moving equipment to clear the rubble.

SurfAid, a New Zealand-based medical aid group, said its program director David Lange, narrowly escaped death when he fled the Ambacang Hotel minutes before it collapsed.

"People are trapped and screaming for help but they are below huge slabs which will take heavy equipment to move," Lange was quoted as saying in a statement by SurfAid.

"I saw dozens of the biggest buildings collapsed in town. Most of the damage is concentrated in the commercial center market, which was fully packed," he said.

At least 80 people were missing at the 5-story Ambacang Hotel, said Indra, a paramedic who uses only one name.

Terrified residents who spent a restless night, many sleeping outdoors, were jolted by the new quake Thursday morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Padang. It damaged 1,100 buildings, including mosques and homes, in the town of Jambi, according to Mayor Hasfiah, who uses only one name like many Indonesians. He said there were no deaths but dozens of people were injured.

From Padang, Metro TV showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement slabs in search of students missing from a school, where they were taking after-school classes. Rescue workers said six children were pulled out alive but four others were found dead. They were placed in yellow body bags before being taken away. Another 20 children remained missing.

Parents of missing students stayed up all night, waiting for signs of life.

"My daughter's face keeps appearing in my eyes ... my mind. I cannot sleep, I'm waiting here to see her again," a woman who identified herself only as Imelda told TVOne, tears rolling down her face. She said her 12-year-old daughter Yolanda was in the school for science lessons.

"She is a good daughter and very smart. I really love her. Please, God help her," she said.

In another building, rescue workers passed a plastic bottle of water through an opening in the rubble to a person trapped underneath.

The quake was so powerful that it caused buildings to sway hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in Malaysia and Singapore. In Padang, children screamed as thousands of frantic residents fled in cars and motorbikes, honking horns. They feared the quake would trigger a tsunami, but no giant waves struck.

The quake severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, and the extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear.

Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation, sits on a major geological fault zone and is frequently hit by earthquakes. The latest quakes were along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

Geologists said the Indonesia quakes were not related to another deadly quake Tuesday that hit islands in the South Pacific.

Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.

"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Finance minister Sri Mulyani said the government has allocated $25 million for a two-month emergency response. She said the earthquake will seriously affect Indonesia's economic growth, because West Sumatra is a main producer of crude palm oil.

"This region has been damaged seriously, including its infrastructure," Mulyani said.

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Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta contributed to this report.

2nd quake shakes Indonesia after temblor kills 467
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks Print AP � Rescuers lead a sniffer dog to search for earthquake victims in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, �
Slideshow:Powerful earthquake hits Indonesia Play Video Video:Indonesia hit by another powerful quake AP Play Video Video:Indonesian quake traps thousands under rubble CBC.ca By IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writer Irwan Firdaus, Associated Press Writer � 58 mins ago
PADANG, Indonesia � A second powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia on Thursday as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of the previous day's temblor, which killed at least 467 people and left thousands trapped under collapsed buildings.

The death toll from Wednesday's undersea quake of 7.6 magnitude was expected to rise further after rescuers dig through the rubble in heavily populated towns of Sumatra island. The second, 6.8-magnitude quake damaged additional buildings Thursday.

"This is a high-scale disaster," Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari told Metro TV.

Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 and capital of West Sumatra province, became the immediate focus of relief workers.

At least 500 buildings in Padang collapsed or were badly damaged in the Wednesday evening quake, which also set off fires, said Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono.

A total of 467 people were confirmed dead and 421 seriously injured, said Tugiyo Bisri of the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center. He said 376 deaths occurred in Padang, with rest of the deaths in four surrounding districts.

At least 80 people were missing at the 5-story Ambacang hotel in downtown Padang, said Indra, a paramedic who uses only one name. Rescuers, working in heavy rain, found two survivors and nine bodies in the hotel's rubble.

Terrified residents who spent a restless night were jolted by the fresh tremor on Thursday morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the inland quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 hit about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Padang at a depth of just under 20 miles (24 kilometers).

The second quake reportedly damaged 30 houses in Jambi, another Sumatran town. It was not yet clear if there were injuries, said Jambi Mayor Hasfiah, who uses only one name, like many Indonesians.

Collapsed or seriously damaged buildings in Padang included hospitals, mosques, a school and a mall. TVOne network footage showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement in search of more than 30 students it said were missing from the school where they were taking after-school classes.

Parents of missing students stayed up all night, waiting for signs of life under the rubble.

"My daughter's face keeps appearing in my eyes ... my mind. I cannot sleep, I'm waiting here to see her again," a woman, who identified herself only as Imelda, told TVOne, tears rolling down her face. She said her 12-year-old daughter Yolanda was in school to take science lessons.

"She is a good daughter and very smart. I really love her. Please God help her. I hope rescuers, everybody... can help her out of here. Please!" she said.

An unidentified boy told TVOne that he escaped from the top floor just as the three-story school crumpled. He said he was taking math lessons while many others were taking science courses.

Wednesday's temblor severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. The shaking was so intense that people crouched or sat on the street in fear.

Children screamed as an exodus of thousands of frantic residents fled in cars and motorbikes, honking horns.

The quake was felt hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in Malaysia and Singapore, causing buildings there to sway.

The extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear due to poor communications. Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation with limited resources, sits on a major geological fault zone and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the last big earthquake in 2006 that hit Yogyakarta, a major city on the main island of Java.

The latest quakes came in the wake of a killer tsunami Tuesday that hit islands in the South Pacific, killing at least 120 people. Geologists said the two events were not related.

The Padang quakes were along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.

"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Thousands were believed trapped throughout the province, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.

The shaking felled trees and crushed cars in Padang. A foot could be seen sticking out from one pile of rubble. At daybreak, residents used their bare hands to search for survivors, pulling at the wreckage and tossing it away piece by piece.

The loss of telephone service deepened the worries of those outside the stricken area.

Hospitals struggled to treat the injured as their relatives hovered nearby.

Indonesia's government announced $10 million in emergency response aid and medical teams and military planes were being dispatched to set up field hospitals and distribute tents, medicine and food rations.

Local television reported more than two dozen landslides in the province. Some blocked roads, causing miles-long traffic jams of cars and trucks.

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Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta contributed to this report