Indonesia: Strong earthquake hit West Sumatra

A strong earthquake hit Padang, West Sumatra around 5 PM local time Wednesday.

A video clip posted by  a YouTube user in Padang:

The undersea quake measuring 7.6 on Richter Scale has caused massive building damage and casualties, mainly around Pariaman, a coastal area of Padang.

gempa padang
Photo uploaded on Twitpic by marcellodecaran

An international tsunami warning [id] has been issued for Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and India, but was lifted about an hour later.

Indonesian news agency Antara reported that the death toll has reached 75, but may surge since there are still victims buried under the rubble, while many still choose to stay outside [id] of their houses fearing further tremors would strike.

According to First Secretary Purnomo Sidik of  the National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) in Antara, the BNPB headquarters in Jakarta haven't received detailed information from the field due to communications disruptions in West Sumatra.

Fifty percent of the city has sustained damage and inbound flights to Padang were cancelled following damage to the runways at  Minangkabau Airport.

The Indonesian twittersphere is filled with sympathy messages, updates to and from relatives, and relief reports.

henzter: just received reply to my sms, from an acquaintance @ sumbar: still looking for brother. *am praying*

martimanurung: South and North Sumatra Provinces will help West Sumatra Province for quake relief.

veraalexandra: God please help our brothers n sisters in Padang..give them strenght n perseverance..amien.

aditdmid: bru lht dmpak gempa Padang td sore. evakuasi mlm ni trhmbt hjn deras & mati lstrk,75% kota lumpuh. smg para krbn dbri kkuatn&ktabahn. amin.
aditdmit: I've just witnessed the aftermath of Padang quake, this evening the evacuation is being postponed due to heavy rain and electricity outage, 75% of the city paralyzed. Hopefully the victims are given strength and perseverance. Amen.

The Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, shortened the swearing in of  new parliament members and sent six ministers to the location to assess the damage.

aulia: We voted for you. Our first official request is for you to donate your pocket money to the quake victims. They need it more than you.

Around 11:45 PM local time darlingalih says:

darlingalih: RT @isatbb: Jaringan data GPRS ISAT aman terkendali di Padang, anjuran komunikasi ke Padang via fitur BB: Email, BBM, YM, FB. Please RT
GPRS Indosat's [author's note: Indonesia's second largest mobile phone service provider] network is reinstated in Padang, we advise you to communicate to Padang using Blackberry features: e-mail, BBM, YM, FB.

Minister for Social Welfare Abu Rizal Bakrie said that infrastructural devastation caused by the recent earthquake could be as massive as that which occurred during the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake.

8 comments

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> Busana Muslim

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.