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Tsunami survivors pick up the pieces on Java coast

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 July 2006, 23:28 CDT

By Ed Davies

PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Survivors of the Java coast's tsunami were trying to pick up the pieces of their lives on Thursday, despite repeated aftershocks that have been shaking pasts of the island and spreading fresh fear.

Although tens of thousands displaced by the disaster remained in temporary shelters, officials and aid workers said they were generally getting adequate care.

In the early morning hours in the beach town of Pangandaran, fishermen combed through debris, searching for nets and equipment lost when a tsunami crashed ashore late on Monday, leaving at least 550 dead in its wake.

Parts of brightly painted fishing boats broken in the disaster could be seen sticking out from the rubble of red-tile roofed houses.

One general store in Pangandaran's town center had re-opened on Wednesday, and more were expected to follow on Thursday.

The operator of a guesthouse on the outskirts of the tsunami-hit area said she had never closed.

"I stayed open right through," said Agus, 40. "I think tourists will come back."

However, many refugees remained in the hills behind the town, the hardest-hit along a 300-km (185 mile) stretch of coast seriously affected by the tsunami.

Asked by Reuters TV when he would go back to his home, one refugee said: "We are waiting for the government to say it's safe."

Around 50,000 people were displaced by the disaster, either because their homes were destroyed or from fear of more quakes and waves to come. Muhamad Robi, an officer at the national disaster center, said 275 people were missing and 400 injured.

ADEQUATE AID

Refugees said they had enough food and medical aid, and large military tents had replaced the jerrybuilt shelters many had thrown together for themselves immediately after the quake.

An Italian embassy official reviewing the situation on the ground told Reuters late on Wednesday that he hadn't seen a need for major international aid.

Local health workers were also moving swiftly to inoculate people against possible disease dangers stemming from overcrowding and poor sanitation, a World Health Organization spokeswoman said.

Heavy equipment, including bulldozers and excavators, cleared debris in the search for bodies. Two newly recovered corpses, blackened and with the stench of death, were taken to a local morgue.

On Wednesday morning, a mild aftershock sent people fleeing from Pangandaran beach in fear of another giant wave, while that evening buildings shook in Jakarta and other cities in the western part of Java from a 6.2 magnitude quake.

Earthquakes such as Monday's 7.7 tremor off south Java are often followed by days of milder aftershocks.

Authorities faced fresh questions about people on the beaches and bays of the coastline were not warned ahead of Monday's killer waves, despite regional efforts to set up international early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

There was initial confusion about whether Monday's quake was strong enough to generate a serious tsunami.

The usually authoritative U.S. Geological Survey took six hours before they upwardly revised the magnitude of the quake to 7.7 because an inexperienced overnight team failed to quickly review the data, a USGS official said.

The Jakarta Post said a teletext message had gone to several hundred government officials a few minutes before the waves struck -- too little time for the warnings to be relayed to those who would be affected.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.

Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire."

(Additional reporting by Diyan Jari in JAKARTA)

Source: REUTERS

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