Latest report claimed more than 1,100 deaths [1] in Indonesia while rescuers are struggling to get a hold of some other thousands who are still trapped under the rubbles.
Nearly 24 hours since the earthquake took place, the city is still experiencing blackout and bad cellphone reception:
andrepramana [2] @luckytriakbar [3] belum dapet kabar luk..padang gelap gulita..jringan hp masi eror
andrepramana: I haven't got any news.. Padang is in pitch black.. Cell phone network errors.
Many Twitter users like nenglita [4], is depending on their tweets to find missing relatives:
nenglita [4]: Tlg carikan sepupu saya, Muhammad Septian Pradana,15th & Muhammad Yuniardi,13th. Almt Jl Cendana mata air no2 padang. Please<
nenglita [4]: Please find my 15 year-old cousin Muhammad Septian Pradana and 13 year-old Muhammad Yuniardi. Residents of Cendana mata air street no2 padang.
President Yudhoyono and 6 state ministers are now in Padang to assess the situation and coordinate the emergency relief effort:
dedimasputra [5]: Indonesia was hit by earthqueke again.The presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated for emergency circumstace for 2 months in West Sumatra
The Minangkabau Airport was reopened around noon local time on Thursday. However, due to massive inbound flights, ticket price sky-rocketed, reaching 3 million IDR (about 311 USD) for an economy class seat.
dinanyadonald [6]: @sitita [7] bandara padang udah dibuka ta,tapi sepertinya ticket jadi susah..kk sepupu g udah jalan kesana td pagi
dinanyadonald: the Padang airport reopenned, but the tickets are scarce. My cousin is on the way there this morning.
Reponding to this situation, an official of the Ministry of Transportations told [8] [id] local newsportal Detik that the government has requested the commercial and chartered airlines to set a normal charges on humanitarian ground which doesn't exceed standard price of 960,000 IDR (about 100 USD).
Transporting aid and volunteers to a disaster impacted area is a big challenge for archipelagic countries like Indonesia and its neighbor country the Philippines.
Thousands of Indonesian troops are deployed to search the missing victims.
Twitterers unite in gathering specialized volunteers to be deployed to Padang:
@chairanijk [9] : Tweeps, Jika berminat menjadi relawan di Padang, hub saya ya, bsk brgkt jam 8 pagi. Di utamakan dokter dan paramedis thx.
Tweeps, if you'd like to volunteer for Padang, please contact me, departing at 8 AM tomorrow. Doctors and paramedics preferred. Thanks.
RisyadRusdi [10] : Ada yg mau jd relawan ke padang? Yg berminat hub gw, bsk pagi jam 8 naik pesawat carteran pak JK dr halim. makasih. http://myloc.me/QKHT [11]
Anyone wants to be volunteer for Padang? Those who do, please contact me, we're going there at 8 AM tomorrow with VP's chartered plane from Halim (author's note: military air field)
According to Palang Merah Indonesia's (PMI- Indonesian Red Cross) report [12] appearing on Facebook, 529 people were found dead and 80% of houses and public infrastructure are damaged, and that more tents are still needed for quake victims.
Two more quakes felt on Thursday
On the same report, the PMI also said that another 7.0 Richter scale jolt that struck Jambi province on Thursday morning.
The Jambi volcanic quake [13] damaged some 500 houses in 4 villages. 1 death reported and injuries.
Another rattle measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale was felt in North Sulawesi's capital in Manado around 8 AM Thursday. The undersea quake [14] epicenter is in Tahuna Sea on the eastern part of Indonesia.
Until Thursday evening, extensive reports on Jambi and North Sulawesi are still scarce.