Thousands more injured in central Java province after 6.2 temblor
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake flattened homes and hotels in central Indonesia early Saturday as people slept, killing more than 3,000 and injuring thousands more in the nation?s worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 5:54 a.m. near the ancient city of Yogyakarta, 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta. It was centered about six miles below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake?s epicenter was close to the rumbling Mount Merapi volcano, and activity increased soon after the temblor. A large burst spewed hot clouds and sent debris cascading some two miles down its western flank.
Bambang Dwiyanto of the Energy and Mineral Ministry could not say whether the quake caused the volcanic activity but warned that it could trigger a larger eruption.
?It will influence the activities of Mount Merapi, particularly in the lava dome,? said Dwiyanto, head of the ministry?s geological division.
Almost all people had already been evacuated away from the volcano?s danger zone, and there were no reports of injuries as a result of the eruption.
?Too scared?
As darkness fell in the heartland of Indonesia?s main island of Java, thousands were preparing to spend the night outside their ruined homes or on the grounds of mosques, churches and schools.
?It?s pitch dark. We have to use candles and we are sitting outside now. We are too scared to sleep inside. The radio keeps saying there will be more quakes. We still feel the tremors,? said Tjut Nariman, who lives on the outskirts of Yogyakarta.
TV footage showed damaged hotels and government buildings, and several collapsed buildings. Roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get the wounded to hospitals. Some phone lines also were cut.
?It felt really powerful, and the whole building shook,? said Narman, a receptionist at a hotel in Yogyakarta. ?Everyone ran from their rooms.?
Rising death toll
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the army to help evacuate victims and arrived in densely populated Central Java province Saturday afternoon with a team of Cabinet ministers to oversee rescue operations. He also told people not to fear a tsunami.
Sixteen hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 3,068, Social Affairs Ministry official Sopar Jaya said, adding that two-thirds of the fatalities occurred in devastated Bantul.
In the chaos that followed the quake, rumors of an impending tsunami sent thousands of people on Java fleeing to higher ground in cars and motorbikes. But Japan?s Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a killer wave.
Doctors struggled to care for hundreds of injured people lying on plastic sheets, straw mats and even newspapers outside the overcrowded hospitals, some hooked to intravenous drips dangling from trees.
?We need help here,? said Kusmarwanto of Bantul Muhammadiyah Hospital, the closest hospital to the quake?s epicenter, adding that his hospital alone had 39 bodies.
?There so many casualties. Houses ... are flattened. Many people still need to be evacuated,? he said.
At nearby Dr. Sardjito Hospital, bodies were lined up in the hallway and some family members were taking them home before they could be added to the official toll.
?We have hundreds of injured people, our emergency care unit is overwhelmed,? said Heru Nugroho.
The quake cracked the runway in Yogyakarta?s airport, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said.
Officials said Borobudur temple, a 9th century Buddhist structure considered one of the seven wonders of the world, was not affected in the quake.
In hardest hit Bantul district, Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor, was sobbing next to his dead wife, his house destroyed.
?I couldn?t help my wife ... I was trying to rescue my children, one with a broken leg, and then the house collapsed. I couldn?t help my wife,? he said weakly.
?I have to accept this as our destiny, as God?s will,? he added.
Volcanic eruption
The quake?s epicenter was close to Mount Merapi, which has been rumbling for weeks and sending out large clouds of hot gas and ash.
Activity increased on Saturday, with one eruption that came soon after the quake sending debris some 2 miles down its western flank, but Bambang Dwiyanto of the Energy and Mineral Ministry said the two events did not appear to be directly related.
Almost all people had already been evacuated away from the volcano?s danger zone, and there were no reports of injuries as a result of the eruption.
Indonesia, the world?s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific ?Ring of Fire,? an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, under the sea off the coast of Indonesia?s Sumatra Island triggered a tsunami that killed more than 131,000 people in Aceh province, and more than 100,000 others in nearly a dozen other countries.
? 2006 MSNBC Interactive
Man they just can't catch a break there.
