Earthquakes

Citation

(2005), "Earthquakes", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2005.07314eac.002

Earthquakes

26 November 2004Indonesia

Six people have been killed and at least 30 others have been injured in a strong earthquake in Indonesia’s Papua province. A series of aftershocks have continued to shake the coastal town of Nabire hours after the quake. The quake measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. People are reported to be setting up tents outside their houses because they are afraid go inside. A Health Crisis Centre coordinator in a nearby town says the dead and injured were caught by falling buildings and fires. Several churches are reported to have collapsed. The Nabire Airport has been closed.

26 November 2004. A strong earthquake rocked Indonesia’s West Papua province today causing at least two buildings to collapse, officials said. No injuries were reported. The magnitude-6.4 quake struck at 11:25 hrs and was centred 30 km from the Papuan town of Nabire, about 1600 km east of the capital Jakarta, seismologist Edison Gurning said. The earthquake collapsed a church and government telecommunications building, Mr Gurning said. It also forced authorities to close the local airport after a crack was found in the runway. No injuries were immediately reported, he said, though information was sketchy because phone lines were down in the remote area.

26 November 2004. At least 17 people have been killed and more than 130 injured after an earthquake hit a town in Indonesia’s Papua province for the second time in nine months. Terrified residents in the coastal town of Nabire have pitched tents outside their homes amid continuous aftershocks, badly needing more tents and medicine. “A total of 11 bodies have been identified but there are six others which are still buried under rubble of destroyed buildings,” said Commissioner Wempi Batlayeri, the town’s deputy police chief. The quake and smaller shocks had injured 133 people, 30 of them seriously and destroyed 328 homes and other buildings, Commissioner Batlayeri said. “The current condition in Nabire is pitch black, there is no lighting. Almost every minute aftershocks can be felt,” he said. Residents set up camp outside their houses fearing further tremors while tents were pitched outside the town’s main hospital to treat victims. “We are still waiting for supplies from Biak town. The airport’s runway is cracked in six places but Twin Otter aircraft can still land here,” Commissioner Batlayeri said. The main quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, hit Nabire at 0925, local time. Some 150 buildings were flattened and another 178 were set ablaze. The tremor had its epicentre 17 km south of Nabire and 33 km underground.

30 November 2004. Two more bodies were found on Sunday evening (28 November), bringing the number of people killed in the devastating Nabire earthquake to 19, a senior police officer said yesterday. The new fatalities included a two-month-old baby who was found beneath a pile of debris after the Friday earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. Seismologists have so far recorded 368 aftershocks, with the most powerful measuring 5 on the Richter scale, said Guntur Seno from the meteorological agency in Jayapura. Also yesterday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla met with several ministers to discuss how to help the earthquake victims. The ministers are scheduled to visit the city to assess the damage and decide what steps will be taken to help the victims and rebuild the town. Some 150 buildings, including schools and places of worship were destroyed in the powerful earthquake.

1 December 2004. A powerful aftershock today killed a man in the Papuan town of Nabire as he repaired damage to his house from a major earthquake which killed 30 people five days ago. The state-run Antara News Agency said the 4.5-magnitude aftershock was centred 21 miles southwest of Nabire, where the man was killed as his house collapsed on him. Nabire is 2,000 miles northeast of Jakarta, the capital. In the 6.4-magnitude quake on Friday (26 November), 30 people died, 200 were injured and more than 170 buildings were flattened. Hundreds of aftershocks have rattled the area in the five days since that tremor. There was a major quake in Nabire in February that killed 28 people and left much of the city in ruins.