News & Stories

Padang Earthquake Report

October 13, 2009

The following report comes from a field worker on the ground in Indonesia. It was originally dated October 6, 2009.

Pariaman and Sicincin are two communities that were hit hard. Almost every house either heavily damaged or completely destroyed.  The communities are primarily family based with about 30 heads of families in a area. No power or public water source.  Well water is fine. While some wells sustained damage or were filled with falling debris, most are functioning.

Death count is still not dependable. Govt is saying 550, however two major landslides may have claimed hundreds of victims.  Also victims from the Chinese community are being buried without any report to the government.

The government is saying that over 30,000 homes have heavy damage, most cannot be repaired.  We have decided to purchase and put together tool packets so that people can salvage usable materials from their houses.  Tool packet contents are as follows: hammer, shovel, saw, file to sharpen saw, hoe, mallet, 3 kilos assorted nails, crowbar, pliers and two pair gloves.  Initial purchase is 50 packets which we’ll distribute Tuesday afternoon.  If this is received well by the community, we anticipate a purchase of 200 more tool packets.

We anticipate the arrival of a number of national workers that will help with cleaning of destruction debris and tool packet distribution. Adequate housing in the city of Padang has been secured. For the village area we’ve purchased tents and a small gen-set.