Aftershocks scare Indonesian quake survivors

By Michael Perry

KERTEN, Indonesia (Reuters) – Aftershocks rattled
Indonesia’s quake-ravaged region overnight, spreading panic
among thousands of homeless survivors, as aid agencies rushed
to send clean water to the area.

Several aftershocks, which Indonesia’s Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency said registered about magnitude 4, shook the
region, sending many survivors running from their makeshift
tents.

“Last night and this morning I felt some quakes. I was
sleeping. I just ran away, out of the tent,” said 40-year-old
Hardady, who lives in the village of Kerten, which was reduced
to rubble by the quake.

A 6.3 magnitude quake struck Yogyakarta and Central Java
provinces last Saturday, killing over 6,200 people and
flattening over 100,000 houses. Many in the region are now
living in flimsy shelters in front of the piles of rubble that
used to be their homes.

Aid groups are distributing 65,000 jerry cans with water
purification kits in the two provinces, which can provide a
family of five with clean water for a month.

“Dirty water is causing skin infections, especially in
young children,” Korean doctor Hong Kwong Moon told Reuters in
Kerten.

“There are also some cases of diarrhea here. The water is
contaminated, people are washing with it and it infects skin.”

World Health Organization water specialist Jagdish Barot
said the spread of diarrhea, cholera and viral hepatitis were
of concern, but there had not yet been any reports of any
outbreaks.

“It’s important in disasters like this to ensure safe water
because the water lines have been splintered and ruptured and
water has become contaminated,” Barot told Reuters.

“When people are displaced and settle in crowded areas the
water sanitation is not satisfactory. The primary
responsibility for the government is to ensure safe and potable
water supplies.”

The United Nations has unveiled plans for a $103 million
six month relief operation to provide aid like emergency
shelter, medical assistance, clean water, sanitation, food and
child protection across the quake-devastated region.

BIRD FLU WORRY

The government’s official quake death toll remains at
6,234. The social ministry’s disaster task force has also said
33,231 people had serious injuries and 12,917 people had minor
injuries.

British medical aid charity Merlin raised concerns that
some of the quake survivors could now be putting themselves at
risk of contracting the deadly bird flu virus. Bird flu has so
far killed about 36 Indonesians since late 2003.

Merlin said it had found more than 100 quake survivors
taking shelter in six large poultry sheds.

“It’s tragic that people who have lost their homes have no
option but to take shelter in places where they could catch a
deadly virus,” British nurse Paula Sansom, who is leading
Merlin’s emergency response team, said in a statement.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta, a descendant of the
island’s royal family, said he shared the misery of his people.

“We have to accept this fate. This is our trial,” he told
reporters. “What is important is we have to be ready to face
the future. The government will do our best to help.”

(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan and Diyan Jari)