Asia-Pacific

3,500 killed in Indonesian quake

(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-28 08:51

Desperate relatives searched rubble for survivors Saturday after a powerful earthquake flattened nearly all the buildings in this rice-farming town while residents slept, killing more than 3,500 people on Indonesia's densely populated Java island.

The magnitude-6.3 quake wounded thousands more and was the nation's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami. It also triggered fears that a rumbling volcano nearby would erupt.

The earthquake struck at 5:54 a.m. near the famed Borobudur temple complex, caving in roofs and sending concrete walls crashing down. Thousands were wounded. Survivors screamed as they ran from their homes, some clutching bloodied children and the elderly.

The worst devastation was in the town of Bantul, where 80 percent of the homes were destroyed and more than 2,000 people killed. Residents started digging mass graves almost immediately, with family members sobbing and reading the Quran beside rows of corpses awaiting burial beneath a blazing sun.

Village heads recorded their names so the victims could be added to the official death toll. Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor, sobbed next to his dead wife, his house destroyed.

"I couldn't help my wife ... I was trying to rescue my children, one with a broken leg, and then the house collapsed," he said. "I have to accept this as our destiny, as God's will."

It was the most recent in a series of disasters to strike Indonesia _ from the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Aceh province to a widening bird flu outbreak to the threat of eruption from nearby Mount Merapi.

The quake's epicenter was 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the rumbling Merapi, and activity increased soon after the temblor. A large burst spewed hot clouds and sent debris cascading some 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) down its western flank.

Bambang Dwiyanto of the Energy and Mineral Ministry could not say whether the quake caused the volcanic activity but warned that it could trigger a larger eruption.

"It will influence the activities of Mount Merapi, particularly in the lava dome," said Dwiyanto, head of the ministry quake, command post officials from the affected districts told The Associated Press. Two-thirds of the fatalities were in Bantul.

"The numbers just keep rising," said Arifin Muhadi of the Indonesian Red Cross, adding that more than 3,400 people were hurt.

The only foreigner reported killed or injured in the quake was a man from Holland. U.S. Embassy spokesman Max Kwak said he did not know of any American casualties, and said the United States was contributing US$100,000 for search-and-rescue efforts and emergency care.

Yogyakarta is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the sea. In the chaos that followed the to the southeast, suffered some damage but it was not immediately clear how much, officials said.

Close to 1 million tourists visit the temples every year.