INDONESIA: Offices open for business as Padang struggles to recover from earthquake that may have killed 3,000

Record ID: 735539

  • Title: INDONESIA: Offices open for business as Padang struggles to recover from earthquake that may have killed 3,000
  • Date: 6th October 2009
  • Summary: PADANG, WEST SUMATRA PROVINCE, INDONESIA (OCTOBER 5, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC ON MAIN STREET IN DOWNTOWN PADANG FALLEN STATUE OF A HAND
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAAAID260O7C7JX31JOYGBMQXE5
  • Story Text: Padang, which bore the brunt of the powerful earthquake which struck Indonesia, tries to recover from devastation. Businesses re-open as work clearing the destruction left by the quake continues.
    Residents of West Sumatra's provincial capital, Padang, tried returning to normal life on Monday (October 5), after a powerful earthquake shattered their city.
    Padang bore the brunt of last week's earthquake, which may have killed 3,000, officials said.
    Hundreds were buried in landslides and hopes of recovering more survivors are fading.
    Indonesia's disaster agency said 20,000 buildings had been damaged in the quake, with most government offices destroyed.
    Excavation equipment can be seen across the city, ready to clear and haul away tonnes of rubble and debris.
    On Monday, market stalls reopened as vendors recovered from fears of aftershocks. Electric lines are gradually being restored and and classes have resumed.
    Petrol was being sold at more than 100 percent over its regular price last week, but city officials say supplies are normalising.
    "The economy is running at 60 percent. Today students are going to school, and government employees are going to work. It seems we are recovering. Electricity is running at 60 percent, petrol supply is 100 percent. But water supply is still down, at 40 percent," said Fauzy Bahar, government chief of Padang City.
    Padang lies on one of the most active faultlines in the world, but some geologists said the city had been ill-prepared and remained at risk of being wiped out in the next decade by a more powerful earthquake.
    Science experts said the city's existing structures were not designed to be quake-proof.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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