PDA’s local partners in Indonesia, YTB, YEU and CWS-Indonesia, are already responding to the earthquakes that have struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
On September 12, 2007, an earthquake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale collapsed buildings and killed at least five people. A second quake the following day that measured 7.8 shook the very same area of Sumatra. Tsunami warnings were issued for wide areas of the region, but thankfully the quakes only triggered small non-destructive tsunamis off the coastal city of Padang on Sumatra, the Indonesian island that was ravaged by the 2004 tsunami disaster.
Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) was in immediate contact with local doctors in the affected area and has provided support. An assessment team from Medan is currently on its way to the area. In addition, YEU is also collaborating with the emergency medical personnel of public hospitals in sending a medical team to provide medical services and an assessment team to focus on potential disabilities and provide physiotherapy to injured survivors.
Yayasan Tanggul Bencana (YTB) is working with the Christian Church of Southern Sumatra (GKSBS) and the Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai (GKPM). YTB has sent their Rapid Response Officer to the area to conduct an assessment and facilitate provision of emergency relief in two of the most remote locations in the affected area.
Church World Service (CWS) Indonesia is ready to release material aid from their pre-positioned warehouses and is currently preparing to send a team to the affected area with 50 tarpaulins. YEU requested the tarpaulins because many of the injured and other survivors are staying outdoors in fear of more quakes.
PDA, its partners in Indonesia and fellow members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) are continuing to respond to the December 26, 2004, magnitude-9 quake and tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Sumatra's Aceh province.
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