A 7.3 magnitude earthquake damaged scores of buildings in west Java and caused momentary panic when it hit at 15:00 local time Wednesday, September 2.
Ivan Tagor, World Vision's Emergency Relief Specialist is en route to Bandung and its southern area to assess the impact of the quake. Mr. Tagor will work with local government officials to see if there is a need for humanitarian assistance. Tasikmalaya and neighbouring cities such as Garut and Bandung have large populations.
There were a few reported casualties and authorities were on alert for a possible tsunami in the Indian Ocean, but the tsunami alert has now been called off.
The epicentre is about 250-300 kilometres southeast of Jakarta at the Indian Ocean, close to the Tasikmalaya regency. Local media reports say the Ar Rahman mosque and a building at the local university in Tasikmalaya collapsed. Scores of other buildings and houses were also reported to be damaged. Damage was also reported as far away as Bogor city, some 200 kilometres west of Tasikmalaya, when a store received slight damage.
World Vision's nearest programme is in outer Jakarta, some 200 km away from the epicentre.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as reported by State Secretariat Minister Hatta Radjasa, has instructed the west Java governor and the Tasikmalaya district head to rapidly monitor the impact and respond where needed.
Meanwhile, many workers in Jakarta -- since it is the fasting month for Muslims -- decided to go home following the quake. This has created severe traffic jams at the city's main streets, such as Jalan Sudirman.
When the earthquake struck World Vision's Communications Director, Katarina Hardono, was in Lembang, a 30 minute drive from the quake epicentre. She said: "We rushed out of the building we were in. The quake was very strong... we felt the tremor for probably as long as three minutes."
Katarina said patients at the main hospitals in Bandung, the nearest major city centre to Lembang, also abandoned the buildings following the tremor. However, she did not see a lot of severe damage in Lembang and Bandung areas.
When asked about the situation at present, Katarina said: "some people are still waiting around outside buildings, especially those who have evacuated higher ones. Others have gone back to what they were doing before. There doesn't seem to be significant damage here in Bandung."
For media interviews please contact Katararina Hardono, WV Communications Director.
Cell: +628111838476 Email: katarina_hardono@wvi.org Location: a 30 minutes drive from the quake epicentre
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
People stand in the street after evacuating from an office building in Jakarta September 2, 2009. A powerful earthquake rattled Indonesia's main island on Wednesday, seismology agency said, shaking building in ...
