Oct. 1, 2009 - CARE Indonesia emergency team members have deployed to the earthquake-stricken city of Padang, which was hit by another massive quake today. CARE is part of a joint assessment team with government departments, other aid organizations and UN agencies to determine immediate needs of survivors.
Government officials estimate the death toll could be in the thousands, and information is slowly starting to emerge about the full extent of the destruction. Houses have been destroyed, roads are blocked by debris, and communications lines to the affected area are still down in many areas, making coordination and access more difficult.
Today's quake, which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale, caused further damage and weakened building foundations to the point where a modest aftershock could easily send buildings over the edge.
"Aftershocks can be just as devastating as the initial quake," said Adjie Fachrurrazi, CARE's Emergency Response Coordinator in Indonesia, who also led CARE's emergency response to the Padang earthquake in 2007. "After an earthquake of this size, we know the immediate needs are going to be getting safe water, food and emergency supplies to the survivors. The question now is: how bad is it? We're hoping for the best, but the information so far is not looking good."
CARE responded to similar earthquakes in the same area in 2007, providing water purification supplies and emergency shelter for 65,000 people. CARE has more than 40 years of experience in emergency response in Indonesia, and will draw on the expertise of staff in Indonesia and the region to respond to the current disaster if needed.
CARE is already mounting several emergency response operations in the region, as Typhoon Ketsana devastated communities in the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia earlier this week.
About CARE: CARE is one of the world's largest aid agencies, working in 70 countries to fight poverty and helping more than 55 million people every year. CARE has been in Indonesia since 1967, and operates a broad range of integrated projects in disaster risk reduction, emergency response, environment and natural resource management, health, livelihoods and water and sanitation.
Media contacts:
Wiwik Widyastuti (en route to Padang): +62 812 108 2491, wiwik_widyastuti@careind.or.id
Melanie Brooks (Geneva): +41 79 590 30 47, brooks@careinternational.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
People ride a motorbike in front of a damaged house in Padang on Indonesia's Sumatra island October 1, 2009. Thousands may have died in an earthquake that struck the city of ...
