JAPAN: 75 rescue workers and medical staff sent quake-hit Padang, Indonesia, where officials say 529 people were killed and many are still buried under rubble

Record ID: 463540

  • Title: JAPAN: 75 rescue workers and medical staff sent quake-hit Padang, Indonesia, where officials say 529 people were killed and many are still buried under rubble
  • Date: 2nd October 2009
  • Summary: NARITA, JAPAN (OCTOBER 01, 2009) (REUTERS) JAPANESE RESCUE TEAM GATHERING IN A ROOM AND PACKING BEFORE FLIGHT TO JAKARTA, INDONESIA MORE OF RESCUE TEAM MEMBERS PACKING RESCUE TEAM WEARING "JAPAN DISASTER RELIEF TEAM" JACKET AIRPORT OFFICIALS COLLECTING JAPANESE PASSPORTS JAPANESE PASSPORTS RESCUE TEAM SITTING IN A SROOM LEADER OF JAPAN RESCUE TEAM HIROAKI SANO AND RESCUE WORKERS STANDING IN A ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) LEADER OF JAPAN RESCUE TEAM HEADING TO PADANG INDONESIA, HIROAKI SANO, SAYING: "We want to save those who are suffering in Indonesia as soon as possible. We are going to make our best efforts and try to save as many people as possible." RESCUE WORKERS WALKING IN LINES RESCUE WORKERS HEADING TO DEPARTURE GATE MORE OF RESCUE WORKERS WALKING INTO THE DEPARTURE GATE DEPARTURE GATE SIGN MORE OF RESCUE WORKERS WALKING "JAPAN DISASTER RELIEF TEAM" SIGN ON JACKET MORE OF RESCUE WORKERS HEADING TO DEPARTURE GATE DEPARTURE FLIGHT ON BOARD JAKARTA ON BOARD MORE OF RESCUE WORKERS HEADING TO DEPARTURE GATE
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAAYPTKC6WY3FFQISUJ6C5A770C
  • Story Text: Japan on Thursday (October 1) sent a rescue and medical team to Padang, Indonesia, where more than 500 people were killed and many were still buried under rubble after a powerful earthquake hit the city on Wednesday (September 30).
    Seventy-five members from the police, fire department, Japan Coast Guard and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia early Friday (October 2) morning and plan to continue their rescue work in Padang until October 4.
    "We want to save those who are suffering in Indonesia as soon as possible. We are going to make our best efforts and try to save as many people as possible," said team leader Hiroaki Sano.
    The 7.6 magnitude quake struck the bustling port city of 900,000 people on Wednesday, toppling hundreds of buildings.
    Telephone connections were patchy, making it hard for officials to work out the extent of destruction and loss of life.
    Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told reporters at an airport in Jakarta before leaving for Padang that the number of victims could be more than hundreds or thousands. A worker compiling disaster data at the social ministry put the number killed of confirmed deaths at 529.
    A 6.6 magnitude quake hit another part of Sumatra island on Thursday, causing fresh panic but no reported deaths. The second quake's epicentre was about 225 km (140 miles) southeast of Padang, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
    Sumatra has some of Indonesia's largest oil fields as well as a liquefied natural gas terminal, but there were no reports of damage at those facilities.
    The disaster is the latest in a spate of natural and man-made calamities to hit Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 226 million people.
    Padang sits on one of the world's most active fault lines along the "Ring of Fire" where the Indo-Australia plate grinds against the Eurasia plate to create regular tremors and sometimes quakes. Geologists have long warned Padang may one day be destroyed by a huge earthquake because of its location.
    Sumatra is one of the most seismically active parts of Asia.
    A 9.15 magnitude quake, its epicentre 600 km (375 miles) northwest of Padang, caused the 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 people in Indonesia and other Indian Ocean nations.
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