Aftershock and Flooding Hits Survivors



JAKARTA, Indonesia (Jan. 1)) - A 6.5-magnitude aftershock to last weekend's killer earthquake hit off the coast of Sumatra on Saturday, sending frightened residents running into the streets. No injuries were reported.


The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.5 aftershock hit early Saturday morning and was centered 215 miles west of Banda Aceh, the hard-hit provincial capital in northern Sumatra.

Aftershocks in the 4- and 5- magnitude range were also recorded, officials said.

The 6.5 jolt was an aftershock to last weekend's 9.0-magnitude temblor that spawned the devastating tsunamis that hit 11 countries and killed more than 123,000 people.

"Unfortunately, large aftershocks are common after an earthquake of this size," said Kathleen Gohn, a spokeswoman for the Golden, Colo.-based USGS.

She said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued an information bulletin saying that aftershocks of that magnitude generally do not produce tsunamis.

Northwestern Sumatra was the hardest hit area in Sunday's earthquake and tsunami disaster, with about 80,000 people there killed.

Pounding rain drenched the wrecked city of Banda Aceh on Saturday, adding to the misery of homeless earthquake and tsunami survivors and heightening fears of waterborne diseases. Flash floods in Sri Lanka forced evacuations and thwarted aid deliveries.

Worldwide donations to aid those battered by the huge waves that slammed Asian and African nations approached $1 billion, and a steady stream of foreign military aircraft touched down in the epicenter of the disaster, the Aceh province on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.

But supplies were bottlenecking and officials acknowledged distribution networks were not in place to deliver desperately needed supplies to the worst-hit areas.

``The scale of the disaster is just too big,'' said Andi Mallarengen, spokesman for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. ``We can bring in the aid, food, but we need manpower to distribute them.''

Six days after the earthquake and tsunamis, the confirmed death toll passed 123,000. U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland estimated the number of dead was approaching 150,000.

President Bush, his administration stung by criticism that its aid pledges were small and slow to materialize, raised the U.S. promise of help from $35 million to $350 million.

``Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer,'' he said. Britain has pledged $95 million, Sweden $75 million and Spain $68 million.


Flash floods in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday forced the evacuation of 2,000 people from low-lying areas already affected by the tsunami, officials said.

Police officer Neville Wijesinghe said several roads leading to the eastern town of Ampara, one of the worst hit by the tsunami, were blocked by flood waters, preventing aid trucks from getting through.

Aftershocks rattled the region, including a 6.5-magnitude quake 215 miles west of Banda Aceh on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Smaller aftershocks hit northern Sumatra and the Nicobar and Andaman islands, remote Indian territory just north of Sumatra. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the aftershocks were too small to trigger tsunamis.

A U.S. aircraft carrier battle group arrived off the shores of Sumatra and began launching helicopters loaded with supplies.

Two Seahawk helicopters off the USS Abraham Lincoln landed in Banda Aceh early Saturday to begin delivering relief supplies and materials for temporary shelters.

A flotilla carrying Marines and water purifying equipment was bearing down on Sri Lanka, meanwhile, and a former staging base for B-52 bombers in Thailand roared with the take-offs and landings of giant cargo planes.


Saturday's rainstorm in Banda Aceh was the first since last Sunday's disaster. Health workers have warned that heavy rain could spread diseases like cholera and diarrhea. Thousands of uncollected corpses remain in and around the city.

At one refugee camp on the grounds of the airport, hundreds of people spent a damp night under plastic sheets. Mothers nursed babies while others tried to light a fire with damp matches.

``With no help we will die,'' said Indra Syaputra. ``We came here because we heard that we could get food, but it was nonsense. All I got was some packets of noodles.''

Officials and volunteers in the Andamans struggled to deliver tons of rations, clothes, bedsheets, oil, and other items, hampered by lack of transportation.

``There is starvation. People haven't had food or water for at least five days. There are carcasses. There will be an epidemic,'' said Andaman's member of parliament, Manoranjan Bhakta.

Indonesia reported 80,000 deaths; Sri Lanka 28,700, India just shy of 9,000. Thailand's toll stood at 4,800, just over half of those foreign tourists, but 6,500 people were missing and presumed dead.

Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday that his country would investigate why no warnings were issued ahead of the tsunamis.


Aid continued to arrive. But bureaucratic delays, fuel shortages and impassable roads blocked many of the supplies. In an airport hangar in Medan, south of Banda Aceh, thousands of boxes of basics had accumulated since Monday and were going nowhere.

``Hundreds of tons, it keeps coming in,'' said Rizal Nordin, governor of Northern Sumatra province. He blamed the backlog on an initial ``lack of coordination'' that was slowly improving.

In the hardest-hit country, Indonesia, the official death toll stood at more than 80,000, but officials said it could reach 100,000.

``We mourn, we cry and our hearts weep to witness thousands of victims sprawled everywhere,'' said Yudhoyono, the president. ``We witness those survivors still living in desperation and sinking into sadness and confusion.''

In an even more grave assessment, U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland estimated the number of dead was approaching 150,000. "The vast majority of those are in Indonesia,'' he said Friday, adding that the final death toll would probably never be known.

President Bush, his administration stung by criticism that its aid pledges were small and slow to materialize, raised the U.S. pledge from $35 million to $350 million. "Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer,'' he said. France has promised $57 million, Britain $95 million, Sweden $75.5 million.

Emphasizing the U.S. role in the emergency, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed relief efforts at a U.N. meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday, before leaving for a weekend visit to the region to assess what more is needed.

An American military cargo jet brought blankets, medicine and the first of 80,000 body bags to Banda Aceh, the devastated Indonesian city near the quake epicenter. Nine U.S military C-130 transports took off Friday from Utapao, the Thai base used by U.S. B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War, to rush supplies to the stricken resorts of southern Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, said Maj. Larry J. Redmon in Bangkok.

Other C-130s were sent by Australia and New Zealand, and the Indonesian government said two flights from 18 countries had reached Sumatra by Friday. But bureaucratic delays, impassable roads and long distances were blocking much of the blankets, bottled water, plastic sheeting and medicines from reaching the needy.

Convoys distributed sugar, rice and lentils in Sri Lanka; India dispatched a ship converted into a 50-bed hospital.

In the Andaman islands, a remote southern Indian archipelago, officials and volunteers struggled to deliver tons of rations, clothes, bedsheets, oil, and other items, hampered by lack of transportation.

"There is starvation. People haven't had food or water for at least five days. There are carcasses. There will be an epidemic,'' said Andaman's member of Parliament, Manoranjan Bhakta.

At popular Phuket resort in Thailand, people pored over photos of the dead and missing. "At this point we hope against hope that they are still alive somewhere,'' said Canadian tourist Dan Kwan, hunting for his missing parents. He said it was possible they were unconscious or unable to speak.

Forensic teams in Thailand packed bodies in dry ice as the government announced its death toll had doubled to more than 4,500 people, almost half of them vacationing foreigners.

In Sri Lanka, where more than 4,000 people were unaccounted for, TV channels devoted 10 minutes of every hour to reading the names and details of the missing.

A dozen U.S. Navy vessels including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln headed for the Indonesian and Sri Lankan coasts, some 2,000 miles apart, carrying supplies, medical teams and more than 40 helicopters to distribute them.

But the aid was stacking up. In an airport hangar in Medan, 280 miles south of Banda Aceh, thousands of boxes of basics such as drinking water, crackers, blankets had accumulated since Monday and were going nowhere.

"Hundreds of tons, it keeps coming in,'' said Rizal Nordin, governor of Northern Sumatra province. He blamed the backlog on an initial "lack of coordination'' that was slowly improving.

The United States, India, Australia, Japan and the United Nations have formed an international coalition to coordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction efforts. The Indian navy, which has already deployed 32 ships and 29 aircraft for tsunami relief and rescue work, was sending two more ships Friday to Indonesia.

Western health officials, including a 30-person team of U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy personnel, headed to devastated areas across Sri Lanka on Friday after officials warned about possible disease outbreaks among the 1 million people seeking shelter in crowded camps.

"Our biggest battle and fear now is to prevent an epidemic from breaking out,'' said Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. "Clean water and sanitation is our main concern.''

Ade Bachtiar, a volunteer nurse from Jakarta, arrived in Banda Aceh on Wednesday to help at a clinic set up in an abandoned souvenir shop.

"Yesterday, we could only stay open for about two hours due to the lack of electricity,'' he said. Nevertheless, he added, they treated 60 to 80 people, mainly closing and cleaning wounds.

"Medicine is running out, especially antiseptics,'' he said.

In the Andamans, hundreds of people poured into eight camps in Port Blair, the main town, having walked long distances through dense forests.

One survivor, G. Balan, told of fleeing his village only to reach a crocodile-infested lagoon.

"We realized that there was certain death on this side, so we decided to cross and take the risk,'' Balan said. "The crocodiles were not looking. They were busy eating on the shore, where there were many human and animal bodies. It was hide-and-seek. But we swam across,'' he said.

"It still gives me a shiver. If they had seen me, they would have caught me by the stomach. They catch the soft part of the body and drag you away.''

In the hardest-hit country, Indonesia, the official death toll stood at about 80,000, but officials acknowledged the final number might never be known because the towering tsunami waves swept entire villages out to sea.

Sri Lanka reported about 28,500 deaths and India more than 7,700. A total of more than 300 were killed in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya.
Aftershock and Flooding Hits Survivors --David Harrison Levi