INDONESIA: Work gets underway on repairing infrastructure damaged by last week's earthquake

The toll from a severe earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island last week has risen to 17 dead and 88 injured, a health ministry official said on Saturday (September 15). The 8.4 magnitude quake, which struck off the coast of western Sumatra on Wednesday (September 12) evening, has been followed by at least 40 big aftershocks and numerous tsunami warnings, which were subsequently withdrawn. The quake destroyed nearly 800 homes and damaged buildings and infrastructure in the area. Many people are still sleeping out in the open, either because their homes have been destroyed or because they are too scared to return home in case of further quakes. Wednesday's quake, registering 8,4 on the Richter Scale, flattened or severely damaging homes and office buildings in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province. Djoni is among Provincial Agriculture Ministry employees in Padang who are waiting for assessors to report on whether they can continue to work in their badly damaged office. "A team from Jakarta will arrive today. They will survey and decide whether we can stay in this building or not," Djoni said. Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, as it lies on an active seismic belt on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire".

ITN Source | September 15, 2007

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