Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:54 am
This is not good. Another powerful earthquake has struck:<br><br><!--QuoteBegin--> <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'><b>Quote:</b> </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Up to 2,000 feared dead after massive earthquake hits Indonesia</span><br><br>by Nurdin Hasan<br><br>BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, March 29 (AFP) - Up to 2,000 people have been killed in collapsing buildings after a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia that sparked panic around the Indian Ocean, the country's vice president said Tuesday<br><br>The quake, which occurred three months after the December 26 tsunami disaster that left 220,000 Indonesians dead and missing, caused extensive damage on the island of Nias, a popular surfing destination west of Sumatra.<br><br>"Maybe there are one to two thousand people who have died according to the early reports from there," Vice President Yusuf Kalla said in an interview with the BBC.<br><br>The quake, which hit 8.7 on the Richter scale, struck close to the epicentre of last year's magnitude-9.0 shockwave, but did not trigger any ocean upheaval.<br><br>But according to Agus Mendrofa, a deputy district chief on Nias, there was extensive damage on the island with least 80 percent of all multi-storey buildings in the main city of Gunung Sitoli destroyed.<br><br>Indonesian officials issued a tsunami warning after Monday's undersea quake which struck around 11:15 pm (1615 GMT) some 245 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of the city of Medan. They gave the all clear three hours later.<br><br>Mendrofa said that many people injured in the quake had been unable to receive medical treatment as a power blackout had hit the main hospital while doctors and nurses had joined others fleeing for higher ground.<br><br>The earthquake, which was felt in neighbouring countries where it prompted similar tsunami alerts, caused windows to break in Sumatra's largest city Medan and power outages across the island, including the devastated Aceh region.<br><br>In Aceh, where the trauma of last year's disaster is still fresh in the minds of many, there was pandemonium as people fled their homes, running or driving to reach higher ground.<br><br>Similar scenes were reported in coastal cities and towns across Sumatra.<br><br>Police in Aceh urged people to remain calm while local mosques broadcast appeals over their loudspeakers, saying: "Don't panic, there is no tsunami".<br><br>"I'm trying to find my family, they are all women, they were very scared and ran out of the house," said one man in Peurada village in Aceh who was searching for his relatives on a motorcycle.<br><br>"I have put everything I own on the roof," he added.<br><br>Rabhiah, a 20-year-old university student, said she ran with other students to a nearby mosque, where they intended to remain until they were sure of their safety.<br><br>"I am very afraid, when the earthquake happened I was reading a book and then I ran out of the house. Me and my friends all ran to the university mosque.<br><br>"In the mosque we prayed to God to save our lives, and for now we're staying put," she told AFP.<br><br>Sturdily built mosques were among the few buildings that survived the wrath of last year's tsunami in Aceh.<br><br>Heri, also a student, fled on his motorcyle to the airport on the outskirts of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, which was a rallying point for survivors following last year's disaster.<br><br>He said the roads were choked with traffic as other people tried to escape to safer inland areas, and witnessed a vehicle accident on the way.<br><br>"When the earthquake happened, I rode my motorcycle to the airport because I'm very afraid the tsunami will hit again," he said.<br><br>tn-bur/bjn/pch AFP 290108 GMT 03 05<br><br>Copyright © 2005 Agence France-Presse<br>Received by NewsEdge Insight: 03/28/2005 20:09:54<br><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table> <!--QuoteEEnd-->