Kids take exams in quake damage Indonesia

Hundreds of children across parts of Indonesia devastated by last week's earthquake returned to classes Monday to take exams under tents, as local and international aid groups stepped up relief efforts.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck central Java island on May 27, killing at least 5,782 people, the Social Ministry said, revising its figure downward from more than 6,200 after scores of people initially tallied among the dead were found living with relatives or friends.

Adding to fears in the quake zone, the nearby Mount Merapi volcano spewed hot lava and clouds of gases dozens of times Monday, triggering fresh alerts from the government that a major eruption may be due.

The quake damaged or destroyed more than 130,000 homes and at least 835 schools, the U.N. children's agency and government officials says.

Source: Yahoo News

Indonesian volcano spews lava, hot clouds

 

The mountain's lava dome has swelled in the past week to 330 feet, raising fears that it could collapse, said Subandriyo, a government scientist who uses one name. That could release a highly dangerous pyroclastic flow — a fast-moving burst of high-temperature gases and rock fragments that burns anything in its path.

More than a thousand aftershocks have hit the region since the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck before dawn May 27, killing at least 6,234 people and injuring 30,000 more. Officials estimate that 135,000 homes were destroyed.

Source: Yahoo. AP

UN says aid flowing in Indonesia quake zone, hospitals still crowded

 

The United Nations says aid is moving more freely in the Indonesian quake zone, but that hospital overcrowding and the threat of infection remained serious concerns.

"I believe the figures for the casualties are stabilizing at around 6,000 killed," Charlie Higgins, who is heading UN relief efforts on the ground, told a press briefing.

"It's particularly the injured and the homeless that we are concerned with."

More than 6,200 people were killed and more than 46,000 others were injured in Saturday's 6.3-magnitude quake, which devastated large swathes of Indonesia's Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

Higgins said logistical problems with the distribution of aid supplies, such as traffic jams on narrow roads and logjams caused by the arrival of aid-laden planes at the Yogyakarta airport, should be overcome in the next few days.

Source: Yahoo, AFP 

Aid has yet to reach some in Indonesia

Villagers pleaded for food and shelter Thursday in areas yet to be reached by foreign relief teams five days after Indonesia's devastating earthquake. Survivors searched for scraps of tin and other materials to rebuild destroyed homes. Others blocked traffic to plead for money or placed flower pots and trash cans on streets to slow traffic and beg for donations. Source: Yahoo News, Ap

Death toll in Indonesian quake at 6,234

Saturday’s 6.3-magnitude quake on Java island killed 6,234 people and injured more than 30,000, the Social Affairs Ministry said.

The main hospital in hardest-hit Bantul district remained overwhelmed, with patients cramming corridors or sleeping on pieces of cardboard in the parking lot, and doctors complained about a lack of supplies.

Aid slowly gets to Indonesia disaster zone

Medicines, rice, water and tarps were delivered to Indonesia's earthquake disaster zone Wednesday to help about 650,000 displaced people, but many said the international aid was taking too long to get there.

Thousands of women and children lined roads clogged with relief vehicles and curious onlookers, asking motorists for money so they could buy food. Some stood next to a banner that read: "Don't just look. Help."

Saturday's 6.3-magnitude quake on Java island killed 6,234 people and injured more than 30,000, the Social Affairs Ministry said.

The main hospital in hardest-hit Bantul district remained overwhelmed, with patients cramming corridors or sleeping on pieces of cardboard in the parking lot, and doctors complained about a lack of supplies. Source: Yahoo,AP

Java earthquake toll passes 5,800

Indonesia has upped the death toll from the earthquake which hit the island of Java on Saturday to more than 5,800.

Large quantities of aid started flowing into affected areas, and the UN spoke of "enormous progress" being made.

But many survivors spent a fourth night without shelter or supplies, as congested roads hampered access to more remote areas.

The 6.3 magnitude quake near the city of Yogyakarta left thousands injured and as many as 200,000 without homes.

Donations from around the world have continued to arrive as the relief operation, involving at least 22 countries, gathered pace.

The aid supplies, brought in by a succession of planes landing at Yogyakarta's airport, were unloaded into warehouses before being trucked south. Source : BBC News

647,000 Indonesians displaced by quake

Indonesia earthquake victims search through the debris of their destroyed homes near Bantul, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 31, 2006. The government said Wednesday that the earthquake destroyed more than 105,000 homes, reducing them to piles of bricks, tiles and wood in less than a minute. Most survivors were still living in improvised shacks or group shelters erected near their destroyed homes. Aid has been slow to reach many of the earthquake victims. Source: AP, Yahoo

Thanks, food and clothing arrived

Villagers rush for boxes of food and clothing for earthquake victims as the Indonesian military drops in supplies in the Bambanglipuro subdistrict of Bantul, Yogyakarta province, in Central Java. Indonesia defended the earthquake relief effort as angry survivors pleaded for help and aid agencies said many victims lacked medical care and water four days after the disaster. Source: AFP, Yahoo

Act now to send donation

An aerial photo shows damage caused by the earthquake in the Bambanglipuro subdistrict of Bantul, Yogyakarta province, Central Java. Indonesia defended the earthquake relief effort as angry survivors pleaded for help and aid agencies said many victims lacked medical care and water four days after the disaster. Soure: AFP, Yahoo