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29 May 2006
NEWSBLOG: Indonesia Quake
AlertNet is posting material in this blog about the response to the Indonesian earthquake that occurred on Saturday in the Yogyakarta area. We will add information as and when we get it, so please check back for updates.
Monday 18:00GMT
The U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO) is setting up a surveillance system in the quake-affected area to detect and control outbreaks of communicable diseases, including diarrhoea.
This was a key feature of disease control in Aceh after the tsunami, the agency says. It will also help organise vaccination campaigns against measles, which it says can be a major killer and spreads rapidly in crowded areas.
It has also sent in vehicles with medical and communications supplies, including emergency health and surgical kits.
The organisation adds that there were already some 29,000 internally displaced people in the province due to the activity at Mount Merapi volcano, and clean water and safe sanitation are key to preventing the spread of water-borne diseases among these groups.
The Indonesian government is asking for more medicines and supplies rather than people to help with rescue and recovery, according to WHO. The government is reportedly mobilising extra health personnel from within the country, including more than 200 doctors and nurses.
***
Monday 17:45GMT
The United Nations plans to launch an appeal to mobilise resources for short-term relief operations in Java, according to a third situation report issued by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
It says priority needs are in the areas of health, shelter and water supply.
The U.N. Area Coordinator in Yogyakarta reports that the provincial government believes the four international field hospitals deployed so far (from Qatar, Singapore, the United States and China) are sufficient, and has asked all others "to stand down".
In addition, the use of Solo airport by international teams has led to severe congestion on the road to Yogyakarta - and agencies are advised to seek alternative ways of getting to the area.
According to the report, the national government has already begun planning beyond the initial relief phase. It has indicated it will focus on rehabilitating public facilities and housing, as well as reviving local economic activity by providing cash to families who have lost their livelihoods.
The document also contains detailed information on international governmental and non-governmental relief efforts.
Other points worth noting:
- Since the initial earthquake, there have been 752 aftershocks (with the largest intensity recorded at 5.2 on Richter scale).
- The Indonesian Department of Social Affairs (DESA) says 38,996 houses were completely destroyed by the quake, and another 23,632 damaged.
***
Monday 15:45GMT
The United Nations has established a main coordination centre in Yogyakarta and a reception cell at the airport to support relief efforts, according to a statement from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
A "cluster" approach, where different agencies take the lead in different sectors of the relief operation, is being adopted.
A five member U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDACT) arrived today and a Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) is also being set up.
OCHA has released a $100,000 emergency cash grant, and the U.N. team in the field has identified the most urgent needs - to be delivered within three days - as three field hospitals, medical supplies and generators, as well as tents and shelters.
A joint inter-agency team led by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) reached the Yogyakarta area yesterday and will conduct a rapid needs assessment.
***
Monday 12:45GMT
Here's a round-up of some of the latest contributions to the Java relief effort, which aren't included in AlertNet's Find a Charity list or NGO Latest section:
Pakistan, no stranger to earthquake damage itself, is sending relief assistance to Indonesia as a gesture of solidarity. A flight loaded with 30 tonnes of tents, blankets, medicines and food items left for Java on Sunday night.
New Zealand is offering NZ$500,000 (US$320,000) in relief aid for the earthquake, which will be channelled through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "This is an initial contribution and we will be closely monitoring the situation over the coming days," said Prime Minister Helen Clark in a statement.
The U.N.-affiliated International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has begun loading trucks with food, water and medical supplies in Yogyakarta for distribution to surrounding areas.
"One of the issues we face is that the roads into these villages are quite narrow and there are thousands of people trying to get into the area to search for their loved ones," said IOM logistician Ronnie Bala. He added that the Indonesian authorities had "learned many lessons" on coordinating disaster relief from the tsunami. The IOM sent a team to Yogyakarta after a request from the director of the disaster coordination agency in the province.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional NGO, has expressed solidarity with the quake survivors, as well as concern about the risk of insufficient emergency supplies for the disadvantaged. "The worst affected in this tragedy will be the poor," AHRC said in a statement.
***
Monday 11:45GMT
AlertNet has been looking around on the net for other quake-related blogs. Here are a few we've found so far.
Amid the chaos following the quake, Yogyakarta's university, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has managed to set up an earthquake blog to keep Indonesians abreast of the latest news, important contact numbers and information on where to send donations. The blog is in Bahasa Indonesia, the country's national language.
A. Fatih Syuhud writes on Global Voices: "The UGM students certainly have done a good job by setting up the emergency special earthquake relief effort blog. Having said that, considering the magnitude of the natural disaster with international interests, they should consider to make the blog into bi-lingual to enable the blog accessible to international readers (sic)."
An English-language blog on the earthquake can be found here, carrying similar information on donations and rolling news postings.
An online media centre for the earthquake offers, among many other features, a searchable missing persons database in Bahasa Indonesia.
***
Monday 11:30GMT
One of the biggest problems facing the aid effort in Java is the logistics of distributing relief supplies across the quake-hit area, Plan International coordinator Brook Weisman-Ross told AlertNet in a telephone interview on Monday evening (local time).
He said traffic jams on the region's damaged roads are slowing down the transportation of goods and movement of people - it had taken him about 90 minutes to travel 10km.
Weisman-Ross identified shelter and medical attention for those with less serious injuries as priorities in the coming days.
Many people with cuts and superficial wounds had been turned away from overflowing hospitals, but still needed treatment, he said. However, with medical teams now pouring in, the hope is that the situation will stabilise soon.
In addition, regular rains have been making sleep difficult for those who either have no homes to return to, or are still too afraid to seek shelter inside.
According to the latest estimates, around 150,000 people have had their houses completely destroyed or severely damaged, Weisman-Ross said.
He was on his way back from distributing supplies - the first to arrive - in a community called Kleret, several kilometres east of Bantul.
"Normally, this would be a beautiful idyllic setting among the green paddy fields - but once you get past the graveyard, you see house upon house destroyed," he said.
"A woman came up to me and showed me her injuries. She told me she had lost her 12-year-old daughter and her mother - her father had lost his leg. These are stories of real loss."
The village residents had gathered in an open-air barn where they were trying to cook and do what they could with some bandages and a few plastic sheets. Plan provided them with 400 tarpaulins for shelter.
Weisman-Ross added that there are hundreds of similar small communities where around 80 to 90 percent of houses were destroyed by the quake.
In the coming days, Plan will be taking the lead in coordinating pyscho-social support for children. The organisation estimates that, of 64 elementary schools it surveyed, around 80 percent had been heavily damaged.
Plan aims to set up temporary schools with basic equipment so that as many children as possible can go back to school.
"Children have been through great emotional stress. To meet their psychosocial needs, it is important for them to get back into a basic routine. As part of that they need to be attending school - otherwise they will dwell on what has happened," Weisman-Ross explained.
***
Sunday 19:00GMT
A day after the earthquake struck, Bantul's district hospital "was still a picture of despair", the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, says in an update on its website.
It reports that new victims were continually being rushed in on stretchers, and doctors and nurses were overwhelmed by patients seeking emergency medial attention.
The most common injuries included broken limbs, fractured skulls and face wounds, as well as concussions, sunstroke and dehydration.
UNICEF says young children have been particularly badly affected, with many in a state of shock.
The agency began airlifting emergency supplies to the area on Sunday, including ten health kits, which each contain drugs and essential medical equipment for a population of 10,000 for three months.
Further supplies will be sent by air on Monday and Tuesday, with additional land transport expected to begin on Wednesday, the update says.
U.N. and World Health Organization staff are coordinating an airlift of medical equipment and drugs to the area, it adds.
***
Sunday 18:45 GMT
The U.N.'s World Food Programme reports in an update that it began distributing emergency food rations in the quake zone today. Around midday (local time) three trucks carrying 30 tons of high-energy biscuits arrived in Bantul and Klaten, two of the worst-hit districts.
The biscuits are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals and can feed about 20,000 people for seven days.
Five more trucks carrying fortified noodles are expected to arrive in the affected area on Monday morning, with further deliveries scheduled on a daily basis.
The stocks have been drawn from food WFP already had in Jakarta and Solo. WFP has also sent mobile warehouses previously used in its tsunami operations because of a shortage of storage facilities.
Earlier in the day, a WFP-chartered plane landed in Solo carrying an emergency medical team from Aceh and 2 tons of medicine.
"The World Food Programme is ready and prepared to stand by the Government of Indonesia in responding to this latest natural tragedy. Our emergency provisions of food and fortified noodles and biscuits will help those persons who are homeless and will provide them with immediate assistance," said Anthony Banbury, WFP's Regional Director for Asia.
***
Sunday 18:30GMT
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has issued a second information bulletin on the Java earthquake.
Staff and volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross have been participating in a rapid assessment today, in collaboration with technical
experts from several Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies. The results will be fed into a more detailed appeal to follow Saturday's preliminary request for funding.
According to the bulletin, a Red Cross flight arrived in Solo this morning carrying 2.5 MT of relief and medical supplies, which were then transported on to Yogyakarta. Several delegates deployed on the Red Cross tsunami operation have been diverted to Java, and arrived on the same flight.
The IFRC says it has no further need for internationally provided goods-in-kind, nor specialised technical human resources. Immediate emergency needs can be met through relief stocks either on hand following the tsunami or already available in-country for quick deployment, as well as relief goods available through local procurement, the bulletin reports.
***
Sunday 17:50GMT
Poor weather conditions have made access to the quake-hit area difficult for some relief workers. An inter-agency assessment team consisting of UNICEF, WFP and various NGOs set out from Jakarta at 10am local time, but its journey to Yogyakarta was delayed.
"There was heavy rain all along and the roads were really bad from Jakarta to Yogyakarta," CARE Indonesia's Melanie Brooks told AlertNet. The team was expected to arrive around 11pm local time and planned to start its assessment on Monday.
***
Sunday 15:30GMT
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has released a second situation report taking stock of the humanitarian state of affairs in the earthquake zone.
It says a total of 25,000 houses have been damaged and 4,000 are completely destroyed, with UNICEF reporting the destruction of some 2,938 houses in the heavily affected sub-district of Bantul alone.
Plan International is distributing temporary shelters and blankets, as power is restored in the earthquake-hit area."The situation is stabilising and the assessments are allowing us to get a clearer picture of the situation and the requirements," Plan coordinator Brook Weisman-Ross said in a statement.
The weather has impacted on relief efforts. "While the temperature is warm even at night, it has been raining heavily each afternoon and night," Weisman-Ross said.
Plan Indonesia has sourced an initial 5,000 plastic tarpaulin sheets for emergency shelters, which were due to arrive from Jakarta early on Monday morning local time. Up to 600 people spent the night sleeping on pavements outside medical centres Plan is assisting.
***
Sunday 14:15GMT
The British government has donated 1 million pounds ($1.86 million) to the International Red Cross appeal for the Java earthquake - those funds are in addition to the 3 million pounds ($5.58 million) it has allocated for the U.N. emergency response.
That 3 million, which has been offered in advance of a U.N. appeal, comes from unspent funds given to the United Nations following the Asian tsunami in 2004.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has also sent two staff members from Britain to bolster its team in Indonesia.
A spokesperson said aid agencies are expected to make funding requests to the government for their Java operations in the coming days, and DFID plans to make additional funding available for this purpose.
He added that the Indonesian government had still not issued a formal request for international assistance.
***
Sunday 12:40GMT
Save the Children estimates that around 40,000 children have been directly affected by the Java earthquake, although it says exact numbers remain difficult to ascertain.
In an update on the situation, it said many children have been injured and many more are without shelter.
Kevin Byrne, Save the Children's Indonesia director, highlighted the pyschological impact of the disaster on children: "When we consider that children living in these towns have been aware of the possible eruption of Mount Merapi, and that many of them will remember the images and stories of the tsunami in Aceh, we are expecting to have to deal with a lot of trauma over the coming weeks.
"It is critical to get children back to as normal activities as possible to speed their recovery, hence our focus on games and education, as much as on essentials such as shelter."
Thirty boxes of games and toys, including sports equipment, are on their way to Yogyakarta to provide some relief for children.
According to initial assessments by the Save the Children team in Bantul, families' immediate needs are for shelter, blankets, cooking utensils and hygiene items.
Save the Children is delivering hygiene kits, containing soap, detergents, towels and toothbrushes, to 1,000 affected families.
The statement added that more Save the Children emergency experts are on their way to the earthquake zone, including a team who flew out from Britain last night.
***
Sunday 12:20GMT
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) plans to have 20 or more relief workers on the ground in Java by Sunday night, many of whom were already present in the region for other reasons.
MSF France and Belgium are coordinating their aid efforts. "A big surgical team is arriving with nurses, anaestheticians, doctors and logisticians," Kate Derivero of MSF France told AlertNet. "So far we have been in contact with two hospitals who were overwhelmed with wounded people."
Medical supplies will be flown in from Bordeaux, and there are also plans for providing non-food items. Communication with the field has been difficult at times, Derivero said.
She added that MSF has not yet decided whether to concentrate its efforts at local hospitals, to set up mobile clinics, or both.
***
Sunday 12:15GMT
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) told AlertNet that immediate, temporary shelter needs following the Java earthquake will be "pretty much covered" providing it is able to fly in extra tents from Sumatra beginning Monday.
So far, it has distributed around 2,000 family tents and 10,000 tarpaulins. It is now organising air transport (it is exploring both government and private options) to bring in another 10,000 tents from its logistics hub in western Sumatra, according to Latifur Rahman, the IFRC's disaster management delegate in Indonesia.
In response to medical needs, it has set up more than 10 medical units and is establishing a field hospital. Seven orthopaedic surgeons have also arrived. From tomorrow, the IFRC plans to distribute hygiene and baby kits.
Field kitchens have been set up, and food and water is being delivered to survivors - many of whom are still too afraid to seek shelter inside buildings. Assessment of water and sanitation needs is ongoing, Rahman said.
There is a need for more coordination and information-sharing between government and non-government agencies to avoid overlapping and duplication of effort, Rahman said. But "things are now more under control", he added.
Meetings are taking place between those involved in the quake relief effort - a process that has been aided by the coordination structures already established to deal with a potential eruption of the Mount Merapi volcano.
***
Sunday 10:50GMT
CARE says it's following "the same procedure as during the tsunami earthquake", and is dispatching an assessment team to determine needs on the ground in Java and to work out how best to use its expertise in coordination with other agencies.
CARE Indonesia's Melanie Brooks told AlertNet that U.N. agencies and NGOs held a meeting in Banda Aceh on Saturday night to discuss how to redirect available resources from Aceh to the quake-hit area.
Brooks added that aid agencies learned from the tsunami that it is necessary to coordinate work right from the beginning of a disaster.
***
Sunday 10:30GMT
Heavy rain and ongoing aftershocks in the Yogyakarta area are making conditions more difficult for the survivors of yesterday's 6.3 magnitude quake.
Oxfam GB's communications coordinator on the ground, Craig Owen, told AlertNet that aftershocks have continued this afternoon (local time), although they appear to be decreasing in strength.
This means that, despite the stormy weather, people are still afraid to seek shelter inside buildings, and are staying out in the open. They are gathering in places like football fields, and some 5,000 people have congregated around a central hospital, Owen said.
Oxfam is trying to ensure that people have clean drinking water, and distributed essential supplies to around 20,000 people on Sunday. Those supplies include drinking water, hygiene kits and tarpaulins.
Blocked roads are still hampering distribution efforts in some areas to the south of Yogyakarta, where the brunt of the damage occurred. In Bantul, for example, around 80 percent of houses have collapsed.
In Yogyakarta, the telephone network has more or less been restored, but there are still no communications with outlying areas.
Owen said that providing shelter for the 200,000 people made homeless - around a quarter of the local population - is going to be "a massive challenge" once immediate emergency needs have been met.
He added that, so far, coordination between the government, local authorities and aid agencies on the ground has been good. A meeting was held last night, at which agencies agreed to take the lead in different sectors according to their strengths. Another meeting will be held on Sunday evening.
"We are now awaiting the arrival of other agencies, and we're aware of the pledges of funds from other governments. How all this is going to be deployed needs to be well thought through, as it will pay off in the long run," Owen said.
While the ongoing rumblings of Mount Merapi are a major concern (there's considerable fear among local people that the quake could spark an eruption), the fact that some aid agencies already had teams on the ground in preparation for a volcanic emergency has helped the quake relief effort, according to Owen.
Following the December 2004 tsunami in Aceh, it took four to five days for the response to get going, he said, but with Saturday's quake, both local and international NGOs were able to make assessments and start humanitarian operations very quickly.
***
Saturday 18:00GMT
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an emergency appeal for 12 million Swiss francs ($9.79 million / 7.68 million euros) to support the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in providing assistance to the survivors of the Java earthquake.
More than 3,000 people have died, and around 200,000 have been made homeless.
In a press release launching the appeal, the IFRC said: "Five medical teams from the Indonesian Red Cross, supported by additional personnel from the Singapore Red Cross, are already operational on the ground.
"Five more PMI medical teams from the surrounding area are on their way, while a Red Cross field hospital is also being deployed from Aceh to Yogyakarta.
"Local Red Cross volunteers have been distributing food, bottled water, tents, tarpaulins and baby kits to the affected population. Additional medical supplies, as well as 1,000 family tents, six field hospital tents and 1,000 body bags are being shipped to the earthquake zone."
***
Saturday 17:15GMT
UNICEF, the U.N. Children's Fund, says it's preparing emergency supplies to be sent to those affected by the Java earthquake. It has deployed staff to Yogyakarta to assess the immediate needs of survivors.
UNICEF has emergency supplies of tents, hygiene kits, health kits and
school supplies ready to be transported to the earthquake zone.
In a statement, Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF executive director, said: "We are saddened to hear of the devastating earthquake in Indonesia and express our heartfelt condolences to all those who have suffered injury or loss. So often in natural disasters children and the elderly suffer disproportionately because they are least able to react quickly."
***
Saturday 16:45GMT
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has put its Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams on alert in response to the Java earthquake.
OCHA's Regional Disaster Response Advisor (RDRA)-Kobe is in Yogyakarta, where he is liasing with the Governor and other authorities.
"The earthquake struck so early in the morning (it) found most people still inside their homes. We are very concerned that this may result in increasing numbers of casualties and injured people," said Jan Egeland, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a statement on the OCHA website.
For a more detailed assessment of the situation from OCHA and information on coordination of the relief effort (both national and international), click here.
***
Saturday 15:55GMT
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says around 200,000 people have been made homeless by the Java earthquake.
Between 70-80 percent of houses in the area of Bantul have collapsed, including a public hospital.
A spokesperson in Geneva told AlertNet that the death toll, which has now topped 3,000, is likely to rise further.
***
Saturday 15:15GMT
AlertNet member organisations are posting information on our site about their response to the Java earthquake. You can find a summary of their activities here.
A quick round-up of the latest:
Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic humanitarian agency, has staff in Yogyakarta to assist the earthquake victims.
Secretary General Duncan MacLaren said: "Local churches and church buildings are already housing affected people and we have staff from Caritas in Indonesia as well as from Caritas members of Netherlands, Germany and USA in the area. The seven Catholic hospitals in the Province have opened their doors and we are preparing to help as much as we can."
Outreach teams of doctors and nurses from the Catholic hospitals are visiting the destroyed villages in the five affected regions and providing medical assistance to the injured and traumatised.
Caritas agencies had pre-positioned resources in Central Java, in the event of the displacement of people living in the surrounds of the erupting volcano of Mt. Merapi. A needs assessment is in progress and will be coordinated with the local regional authorities.
Malteser International has sent out a relief team to Yogyakarta, comprising three staff members (including a paramedic). Malteser International plans to support local health care structures.
Georgia-based relief agency MAP International has a team en route to the area to assess the damage.
"At this stage in time, most of the health services and other services in the affected region will be overwhelmed. So it's important that we help meet the basic needs of the people," said Chris Palusky, MAP's relief director.
Several MAP staff members based in north Sumatra are making the 12-hour trip to Yogyakarta to assess the situation. They will be working with staff from a local Indonesian church and the aid agency World Relief. The three groups will combine resources to better respond to the disaster.
MAP is likely to set up a mobile health clinic, and provide essential medicines and hospital supplies to the area. It may also set up purification filters to help address water and sanitation issues.
***
Saturday 14:15GMT
Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) is sending two crews of emergency telecoms specialists to Java to strengthen coordination and provide satellite communication facilities for rescue teams in the disaster area.
TSF says it is coordinating its deployment with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva and in Bangkok.
A BBC reporter on the ground said a strong aftershock had shaken the region at around 13:50GMT.
***
Saturday 14:00GMT
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has posted an information bulletin on the Java earthquake on its website.
The Indonesia Red Cross Society (Palang Merah Indonesia - PMI) has deployed 400 staff and volunteers to help with assessment and relief.
The Red Cross is sending family tents, blankets, body bags, bottled water, food parcels, generators and shovels to the affected area.
It will set up one field hospital (it is assessing the need for medical supplies) and 10 field kitchens. The online bulletin contains more detailed information about the Red Cross response.
The IFRC, together with PMI, is putting together a preliminary funding appeal, which will be launched later today.
***
Saturday 13:45GMT
The death toll from the Java earthquake has risen above 2,900, according to Associated Press (carried on ABC News). Social Affairs Ministry official Sopar Jaya told AP that, 14 hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 2,914.
***
Saturday 12:45GMT
An Oxfam team has returned from a first assessment, visiting 18 villages and sub-districts of Yogyakarta. The charity says it will concentrate its immediate response in two main areas.
At the central hospital where there are 1,500 injured people, Oxfam will set up a water bladder and hand out hygiene kits (gerry cans, buckets and sanitary towels).
Oxfam will also distribute tarpaulins to shelter under, and sarongs so that people can use them to cover dead bodies or to cover themselves while they sleep tonight.
The Bantul district to the south/south west of Yogyakarta appears to be the worst-hit area - Oxfam estimates 12,000 people are affected here alone.
It reports that 500 people have gathered in a football field to spend the night. In some villages, 95 percent of homes are damaged.
Oxfam is setting up a water bladder to provide clean water to those in the football field, as well as others in the area.
Oxfam has a team of 20 staff in Yogyakarta and is deciding today whether to send specialist staff out from Britain.
It has stocks of relief supplies including shelter materials and water and sanitation equipment already positioned in Yogyakarta.
***
Saturday 12:30GMT
The United Nations World Food Programme plans to send food aid to Java, which it hopes will start arriving on Sunday morning, according to the WFP's Barry Came.
Speaking to Sky News, he said supplies would be flown in from Banda Aceh. A rapid assessment team had been sent to Java from Jakarta to work out what's most needed in the quake-hit area, he added.
Food aid will be required as shops and markets are closed, he explained.
A large proportion of the deaths have reportedly occurred in the Bantul area, some 30km south of Yogyakarta, Came said, adding that many people are staying out in the open due to fears of aftershocks.
According to Associated Press (carried on the Fox News website), the European Union has agreed to release up to 3 million euros ($3.8 million) to support the aid effort.
"Within a few hours, we expect the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to issue a preliminary appeal and we aim to have immediate funding available for essential relief activities," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said in a statement.
***
Saturday 12:10GMT
Children's charity Plan International says a large-scale aid operation is now in full swing.
In a statement issued by the agency, Plan worker Brook Weisman-Ross told how he sheltered in the bathroom as the quake hit. "The earthquake was felt to be massive - larger than the locals here say they've felt in their lives," said Weisman-Ross.
"I was shaken from my bed ... As furniture was falling, concrete chunks started falling from my hotel room as people were running out in panic in their bedclothes."
Chunks of concrete fell from buildings while many smaller homes had roofs and walls collapse.
Plan is expecting greater numbers of displaced people at volcano evacuation centres and in other earthquake-impacted areas, and is mobilising to procure plastic sheets for emergency shelters, blankets and ground mats.
Weisman-Ross is currently leading a team of 20 aid workers making an assessment of the area and what help will be needed.
"We still have some stock of blankets, ground mats and hygiene kits from volcano distributions, but not much," said Weisman-Ross.
Speaking to Sky News, he said that some people in villages have been waiting for medical help for 12 hours. There is a need for medical supplies, including antiseptics, and additional doctors, he added.
***
Saturday 11:30GMT
The British government has offered immediate assistance to the Indonesian authorities, both through the embassy in the UK and directly to Jakarta, according to a spokesperson for the Department for International Development (DFID).
He told AlertNet that Britain has not yet received a formal request for help from the Indonesian government.
DFID is monitoring the situation and is in contact with agencies on the ground. A team of British officials from the embassy in Jakarta has set off for the affected area around Yogyakarta.
The British government has search and rescue teams on standby to fly out, and is also ready to offer financial assistance, the DFID spokesperson said.
According to a government official quoted by Reuters, the death toll has now reached more than 2,700.
***
Saturday 11:20GMT
In an interview with Sky News, an aid worker with Medecins Sans Frontieres said Indonesian hospitals have requested medical supplies, such as dressings. MSF has sent a team from Jakarta, carrying supplies, which hopes to reach the affected area this afternoon.
MSF said access could be difficult, as traffic jams have been reported.
While local services are quite well equipped according to MSF, the problem in such disasters is the arrival of so many people needing treatment at once, which adds to the emotional pressure on medical staff.
***
Saturday 11:10GMT
Save the Children UK says it is moving to respond to the Indonesian earthquake, together with local partners and Save the Children US.
Save the Children UK's Director of Emergencies, Toby Porter, said: "The earthquake hit a densely populated area of Java and a number of
villages have been affected.
"We are working as fast as we can to reach the children and families most in need. Save the Children UK has large numbers of local staff with direct experience of the tsunami response, and well-tested procedures globally for responding to the needs of children affected by an earthquake, and we hope to be delivering relief shortly.
"As invariably happens after an earthquake, transport and communication are difficult as electricity and phone lines are down. We currently have one member of staff in the area and are sending two more by road today. A team of emergency aid workers will be flying out to Indonesia from the UK later today.
Save the Children recently carried out an assessment of the situation in Java because of an expected volcano eruption, and had already planned a response".
***
Saturday 10:30 GMT
Sky News is reporting that the death toll has topped 2,500. According to an update on Sky's website, an Indonesian government official puts the latest figure at 2,517.
The Sky News Channel says the British government has promised to offer immediate assistance to Indonesia.
***
Saturday 10:00GMT
AlertNet spoke to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva to get the latest on the situation. Reuters reports that the latest death toll provided by the Indonesian goverment is 2,276.
"In some areas of the city, 70 percent of houses have been destroyed," IFRC spokesman Jean-Luc Martinage said. "We know that hospitals are overwhelmed. It's a very difficult situtation."
At least one hospital in Yogyakarta has been damaged.
The Red Cross is sending an emergency mobile hospital from Banda Aceh, where it had been attending survivors of the December 2004 tsunami.
Yogyakarta's proximity to the active volcano Merapi means that disaster experts are already on standby in the region.
The Indonesian Red Cross has 10 medical teams and 4,000 volunteers in the volcano area, and Martinage said some of them would be sent to Yogyakarta to help with the earthquake response.
"The death toll is rising," Martinage said. "The phone lines are cut off so you can imagine there are more people injured and dead."
He said the Indonesian Red Cross was well equipped to handle this kind of disaster. "They have a lot of trained volunteers and can certainly handle the first hours. But they will need back-up," he said. "Clearly there will be an international response."
The IFRC is planning to launch a preliminary appeal for emergency quake response funding by the end of the day.
A series of at least four strong aftershocks has frightened people, and Martinage said the population in the quake zone was bound to be worried about tsunamis, even if they did not materialise. "People remember what happened not so long ago," he said.
Click here for an update from the British Red Cross.
***
Saturday 09:20GMT
Associated Press is reporting that the death toll has reached close to 2,000. Sopar Djaya, an official in the Social Affairs Ministry's task force office, told the news agency that, nine hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 1,987. Two thirds of the fatalities are in the devastated district of Bantul.
"The numbers just keep rising," Arifin Muhadi of the Indonesian Red Cross was quoted as saying, adding that nearly 2,900 people were hurt in the disaster.
Roads and bridges have been destroyed, hampering efforts to transport the injured to overloaded hospitals.
Electricity supplies were also cut off following the quake (although have reportedly been switched back on in some areas), and phone connections are said to be poor, with the mobile network under strain.
Adisucipto airport in Yogyakarta has been shut due to cracks in the runway, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, according to Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa.
Kyodo News reports that all flights have been diverted to Solo, an hour from Yogyakarta.
***
Saturday 09:00GMT
Indonesia's social affairs ministry puts the death toll at 1,700, with thousands injured, according to a report carried on the Hindustan Times website.
"Our tally shows 1,700 were killed. We continue to receive fresh data," Desi Desmawati, an official at the ministry's disaster relief center, told the AFP news agency.
She said the figure was based on tallies compiled from five districts in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, and added that at least 370 houses were destroyed in one district alone.
The government has declared a state of emergency in the quake-hit areas, and hospitals are under strain.
"Dozens have come to the hospital, but it's overloaded, so they're being treated outside in the corridors and elsewhere," Sugianto, an official at Bethesda Hospital was quoted by the state-run news agency, Antara, as saying.
The quake also reportedly triggered a landslide in Boyolali district, cutting off road connections with other areas.
***
Saturday 08:30GMT
The Australian government has offered one million Australian dollars ($760,200) in immediate aid to survivors of the earthquake in Indonesia, according to the Australian Associated Press (on NEWS.com.au).
"The Australian Government's international aid Agency AusAID will provide the funding through the Indonesian Red Cross and Red Crescent Society and other key relief agencies to enable them to meet the urgent needs of victims such as medical assistance, food and shelter," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was quoted as saying.
"Australia offers condolences to the families of the victims and stands ready to offer additional assistance if necessary."
Australian government officials said they would set up an embassy office to assist Australians in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta following a devastating earthquake.
The Indonesian Red Cross has also reportedly set up a field hospital in Bantul, one of the worst-affected areas.
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Last updated:Mon May 29 18:34:10 2006