|
|
MEULABOH - Some villages on the western coast of Indonesia's Aceh province have been wiped from the map. In others, only a few houses remain. Bridges crossing estuaries have been swept away. The force of the tsunami waves of Sunday was so great the water only stopped when it reached the foot of tree-clad mountains as far as two kilometres inland.
In Meulaboh, near the epicentre of a massive undersea earthquake that triggered the tsunami, water has flattened large parts of the town, where officials fear 40,000 of the 120,000 residents have perished. The official toll for all Indonesia so far has climbed past 47,000. Many parts of remote Aceh, 1,700 km (1,000 miles) northwest of Jakarta, have yet to be reached. Relief supplies can only be flown into Meulaboh by helicopter. The coast road from the provincial capital Banda Aceh, 175 km (109 miles) to the north and itself still reeling from the waves, has been washed away in many places.
Meulaboh is 150 km (90 miles) from the epicentre of Sunday's quake, the world's most powerful in 40 years. The stench of death hangs in the air days after the water crashed through the town. Many bodies remain on the streets or under rubble because soldiers without special equipment are doing clearing and body collection by hand. Medical experts say the rotting corpses pose health hazards, fouling water supplies and setting the stage for diseases such as cholera.
Five-thousand body bags were flown to Meulaboh on Wednesday alone, UN officials have said. Some residents wander around dazed, clinging to their meagre belongings, trying to comprehend how they were caught in Sunday's waves of death. Those lucky to survive lie injured on army cots. Mangled cars litter the streets, where fishing boats rest atop rubble, the force of the water so strong they were flung from their moorings. The area closest to the beach has virtually been washed away.
Still standing, however, in this most heavily Islamic of Indonesia's provinces, is Meulaboh's majestic mosque, its maroon-coloured domes rising from the destruction.
|
|
|
|
|
indahnesia.com lists all earthquakes that occur in Indonesia. For your convenience we display them in a list and a Google Map. It is as accurate and recent as you can imagine as we check for updates every few minutes. If an earthquake occurs in Indonesia, this is the place to check it out in the first place.
|
|
|
|
There are no reactions on this blog entry yet. Be the first one to give a reaction here!
|
|
Log in to write a reaction
|
You are not logged in to the website. You have to be logged in to write a reaction on this blog entry.
· If you already have an account, please login.
· If you have lost your password, please retrieve it.
· If you don't have an account yet, you can create one.
|
|
|
| ABOUT THIS ENTRY |
Add this blog entry to your email, your own blog, MySpace, Facebook, or whatsoever via AddThis:
|
Login if you want to receive emails for reactions on this blog entry. You will receive an update as soon as a reaction on this blog entry is posted.
|
| BLOG ARCHIVE |
· 2009, 801 entries
· 2008, 504 entries
· 2007, 725 entries
· 2006, 1014 entries
· 2005, 723 entries
· 2004, 558 entries
· 2003, 525 entries
· 2002, 375 entries
· 2001, 162 entries
|
| POPULAR TAGS |
Automatically generated every hour
|
| EXCHANGE RATES |
@ 21 Nov 2009 23:23 CET
|
@ 21 Nov 2009 21:44 CET
|
@ 21 Nov 2009 21:35 CET
|
@ 21 Nov 2009 19:35 CET
|
@ 21 Nov 2009 22:59 CET
|
|
| Go to 'exchange rates' |
|
