ACEH'S "WILD WEST ROAD" - Jakarta Post 25th June

Aceh's wild west coast road tests tsunami survivors

Dean Yates
ReuterslLhok Kruet
Jakarta Post

Nawir was anxious to get his catch of prawns to markets in the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh. With no ice, time was against him. So was the road.

Nawir set out on Sunday, his pickup truck stacked with crates of prawns ' and a dozen hired hands sitting on top to help get through treacherous sections of the west coast road linking tsunami hit villages to Banda Aceh in the north. But two days of heavy rains and strong winds had left their mark. Despite clearing fallen trees off the road and making it past flooded sections and mudslides, Nawir finally had to give up at one fast flowing river that was too dangerous to cross.

His frustration illustrates what survivors of the tsunami face as they try to rebuild their lives six months after the disaster.

Something that will make a difference is a USAID funded project to rebuild the entire road from Banda Aceh to the devastated city of Meulaboh, 250 km (160 miles) to the south.

"This is the economic backbone of the west coast. It is the only link for those communities," said Muhammad Khan, an official with USAID in Jakarta.

Some priority rehabilitation work will commence at the end of August on the section between Banda Aceh and the key town of Lam No, 80 km to the south, Khan said. At around the same time, design work for the overall road should begin. Construction is expected to be in full swing by next April, with completion some three years later. The project, estimated to cost $245 million, will feature more than 110 bridges and culvert crossings.

The poor state of the roads will complicate reconstruction, especially. in getting materials for houses and other infrastructure down the west coast where ports were also badly damaged. The road to Meulaboh includes newly dug dirt sections that cut inland to replace large chunks that were washed away, as well as dozens of temporary pontoon bridges. Where old asphalt sections skirt rocky outcrops, waves smash precariously close.

Reopened recently, the road is not for the faint hearted. But buoyed by the prospect of earning some good money, Nawir set off f rom the destroyed town of Lhok Kruet, 120 km south of Banda Aceh, his sights on the provincial capital. "Help us and we will help you," he said to Reuters as a burst of heavy rain drenched everyone to the bone. The first major obstacle was meter deep mud in flatlands. A Reuters four wheel drive jeep dragged Nawir's Mitsubishi L300 up a ditch to go around the boggy road section before both vehicles got stuck. It took two hours to get free.

Then came a 50 meter section where rain water from nearby mountains flowed rapidly over the road at a depth of half a meter. His team of helpers waded in and first cleared scores of twisted tree branches. "Follow us, it's easy," Nawir shouted.

Next came a mudslide. His boys used their bare hands and pieces of wood like shovels to clear a path. A mass of fallen trees followed. Spotting a lone villager walking along the beach in the distance, one youth sprinted off. He came back with a machete and a saw. Just as Nawir's spirits started to soar and with Lam No now only 5 km away, a giant tree of two bulging trunks lay felled by high winds.

"That's It. We have failed," said the pudgy Nawir. Not to be deterred, one of his boys borrowed a motorbike that had followed our path and sped off to Lam No. He came back with a chainsaw. The road was open again. But at a wide river which splits Lam No in half, Nawir's ran out of luck. The current was too strong and the operators of a makeshift pontoon that takes cars across wanted to wait until the next day.

And the wet season does not even start until September.

SAM'S "FAST ACTION RECOVERY" TEAM LAUNCH BOATS

3 of the 8 boats that are ready for the journey North

Sam Schultz and his F.A.R. Team are in Sibolga organizing the finishing touches to 8 of the 20 boats they have purchased and rehabilitated for Pulau Raya. Sam scoured the West coast looking for boats that the Aceh West coast fishermen could accept and he finally found what he wanted at an undisclosed location in a mangrove forested little known port way off the beaten track. Only boats less than 3 years old were considered and after towing them to Sibolga, Sam found the best boatbuilder in town and organized new engines, props, shafts and gear.

After a month of hard work the first 8 boats are almost ready. ELM are working with Sam to construct a POSKO on Pulau Raya and a truck load of equipment and material will leave Padang tomorrow to join Sams convoy. ELM staff Irfan is waiting in Lho Kruet to take over the management of the new fleet and the selection process for the new owners. The F.A.R. Team and ELM & OBI have worked hand in hand to equip a total of 35 boat owners & 9 bagan owners with new nets, lines, ropes and ice boxes. The biggest problem has been the lack of surviving boats and boat builders in the area. Only 13 boats survived out of a fleet of 200 in the area and over 100 bagans* survived the tsunami. (*large floating fish traps). Only 2 boatbuilders are known to be alive and they are reluctant to leave Lamno IDP camp and return to their drowned village.

The F.A.R. Team and ELM will set up a camp and jetty on Pulau Raya at a location that is sheltered in all weather and swell conditions. Our hope is that small scale ice making and a store will kick-start the once thriving fishery and help supply the West coast with high protien, long lasting dried white bait. Click on http://www.bonesandstones.com

GOMO DISTRIBUTION CONTINUES

Mike and our local team relax in the ELM Gomo camp.

Ali & Inge report that distribution has been smooth with no incidents or tension. 50% of the family boxes remain and Ali thinks our team should be finished later today if the weather holds. About 10% of the cartons were damaged by rain in transit and required repacking but no losses have been reported.

IOM team move timber on a damaged bridge before the convoy can cross

NIAS PHOTOS

UV's Megan Trusnikreturned today from Nias. All the Aqua boxes are in Gomo at last and ready for distribution tomorrow. We estimate distribution will take 3-4 days and our team will be able to return to Padang by Wednesday. The weather has cleared up but roads are severly degraded by the recent rains and traffic is being held up at damaged bridges.

Above boxes being unloaded in Gunung Sitoli Wednesday.

Trucks fording a river enroute to Gomo yesterday.
Gomo senior high school

Lahusa Junior High School temporary classrooms
built with AUS AID material distributed by ELM

NEW ROLLS ROYCE CLINIC OPEN - CALANG

Tsunami prompts companies to play greater role in humanitarian relief
(Associated Press)
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050624/ap/d8atnt200.html

Mike Gray took a good look at our Bridge of Boats plan a week after the tsunami. He like what he saw and things moved very quickly after that. Mike set us up in his 16th floor office with staff, our own broadband terminal and a driver at our disposal. Without his faith in our concept and the backing of HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and the British Embassy, ELM could still be just an idea on the drawing board.

Over our 3 month mission in NW Aceh we helped RR with their other major project in the area. A $500,000 clinic in Calang all prefabricate in Batam and shipped in on a barge. Batavia carried steel, cement and acted as an accommodation base for RR's top field engineer, Bactiar, while the site works were getting started. The clinic is open and we congratulate Mike and his team on a fantastic job.

Associated Press write........Then there was Gray, the Rolls-Royce executive. At the request of the British Embassy in Jakarta, he shipped masks and body bags and other supplies to Aceh, using his business contacts to make it happen.

Gray's idea to build a clinic came after he realized many military field hospitals would close. He said some aid groups dismissed his plans as unrealistic, and medical aid groups refused to participate because he was working with the military, who are fighting separatist rebels in the area.

But Gray makes no apologies, saying he couldn't have done the job without help from the troops.

"We needed something that would transcend the emergency to permanent rehabilitation and would become a focal point of the redevelopment of Calang," he said.

Gray and McHowat's aid efforts may not be over.

Like two excited schoolboys, they sat in an airport waiting room last week tossing around ideas. Maybe the clinic could be expanded into a hospital or they could help the devastated fishing industry in Calang by providing larger vessels.

"The tsunami has broken the mold," Gray said. "It provides us an opportunity to see what we can do on the ground. We're just at the beginning."

GOMO DISTRIBUTION MOVING AT LAST

The rain has let up and the river at at Danugawo is fordable at last. The first 2 trucks in our convoy of 20 departed Gunung Sitoli yesterday afternoon and are being unloaded in Gomo. Marion is still in Gunung Sitoli to make sure the rest of the trucks leave today. A distribution that would normally take us 3 days by ship has dragged on for 5 weeks! We will prepare a cost comparison based on IOM trucks & boats that have been used for this delivery and Batavia. Trucks are rented by the day and if they sit in Sibolga the UN still pays. Boats that turn back because of the weather still charge a day-rate for trying. The family boxes departed IOM's Medan wharehouse on the 8th of June and they have been in trucks or on boats every since!

VILLAGE BURIED - 4 KILLED IN NIAS

Two mega quakes, two tsunamis and now floods and landslides. Nias is in pain.

Megan just called from Gunung Sitoli with tragic news. Recent torrential rains unleashed a huge landslide and half of Hilianaa village has been buried. 4 villagers are confirmed dead and Megan arrived with a UNICEF team as they were uncovering the last of the bodies. Hilianaa is in Gido regency not far from the airport.

Our team are in Gunung Sitoli to help unload boats and load trucks to make sure the Rotary family boxes make it to Gomo tomorrow. Two weeks of delay, storm and floods underline how critical it is for us to secure our new mother ship soon so we can bypass the failing infrastructure and keep supplies moving.

FISHING BOAT PROTOYPE

Wolfgang visited Padang on Friday and we discussed ship options and also recent orders for PE moulded boats for Aceh and Nias as fishing/transport boats. (Wolfgang is manager of PT Polytech in Jakarta, the manufacturer of our PE beach landing skiffs). Both of us have been thinking about a moulded PE fishing boat that can be paddled, powered with a small outboard or sailed.

A mini fishing platform for coastal fisheries recently devastated by the tsunami. The boat must be very low cost so the weight of materials is the most important consideration. Proas are the most efficient design on earth when comparing seaworthness, stability and weight of material used. This design was donated by Joe Henry to become a protype for a new fishing boat design for mass production. The design will have to be scalled up to about 7 meters and a single skin mould developed but moulding in PE could produce a very light and durable craft at a very low cost.

The sail will need some development so it can double as a canopy for shade when at anchor or on calm hot days.

Thanks Joe! We will try building one to your plans first and then decide on modifications
for village use.

http://www.lifebase.net/flaquita/Default.htm

For a large image click: at_the_dock_large.jpg

ACEH COAST ROAD - STATUS REPORT

Ron Oats is Head of Logistics for OBI in Aceh and he has spent the past weeks trying to get building materials into the Calang - Lho Kruet area so that housing construction can start.

I asked him about the new West coast road and Ron has just mailed back:

"The roads between Lamno and Lhokruet and Lhokruet and Patek are drivable by four wheel drive vehicles and trucks on dry days but they are very very rugged. The Lhokruet to Patek road is especially difficult and unusable on rainy days. the bridge is out at Lamno and they have a small juryrig ferry that takes hours to wait your turn. I drove from from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh in a 4 WD on a good dry day. It took us 13 hours and we were exhausted. You can't haul the amount of stuff we need to build thousands of houses over that road now and it will be worse as we get into the really rainy season in late Aug/Sept. The condition of the road gets worse evey day and the TNI engineers have pulled out."

OBI are using a barge and tug to move cement and iron to the area.

NIAS MAIN ROAD CUT

Ali spent all day yesterday working with IOM in Gunung Sitoli unloading the Rotary family boxes from 2 wooden boats into trucks. One of the Nias ferries has broken down completely and the remaining ferry is dedicated to supporting private vehicles. A total of 7 smaller trucks were ready yesterday to proceed to Gomo but heavy rains have cut the road near Hiliwet Gido. A very long bridge was damaged beyond use, a monument to the power of this mega quake. Vehicles have been fording the river but that is clearly not feasible now that the rains have started. This is the main North/South road on Nias and it links the two largest cities and the majority of the population.

ELM/UV volunteers continue to work with Dr Laia in and around Gomo while we wait for these supplies. IOM say they have loaded more boats in Sibolga but bad weather has kept them in port so far.

Broken ferries, damaged roads, broken bridges and flooding & storms are seriously delaying deliveries to much of Nias.

LAHUSA SCHOOL REVISITED

Lahusa's new school was completely destroyed in the March 28th quake

Michael Simonoff is one of ELM-UV's longest serving volunteers. He has just come back from Gomo and Lahusa in Nias where our team have been busy while they wait for the Rotary boxes to arrive. Michael took the chance to visit the school where we dropped zinc, timber and tools donated by AUS AID some weeks before and he was amazed to find 6 functioning class rooms and hundreds of very happy school kids... here is his account of how he found the school last month. (We should soon have photos of the new building)


AUS AID material being stored in the headmaster's office

MICHAEL's LAHUSA REPORT - 08 MAY
After spending some time on Nias in the Lahusa district the abundance of children on the island became quite obvious. As the Electric Lamb Mission pushed forward with the distribution of aid to areas of Gomo and Lahusa, we saw the critical need to help and give aid to schools.

As I worked on the beach and oversaw loading of trucks headed to Gomo and other areas to distribute aid, young gentlemen constantly approached me with pieces of paper attempting to entice our mission to supply aid to their specific areas. Schools were no different: headmasters, their representatives, and even friends or former students came and approached me. As it happened one day, after a long day of loading and joining two truckloads to Gomo district, I returned to the North Beach, ready to return to the Batavia when a young man approached me. His name was Appraisman Ndruru.

He was a 19-year who attended college in Teluk Dalam, but had been raised in Lahusa district and attended SMP Negeri 2 in Lahusa for middle school. As we had already noticed the abundance of children in the area and the apparent damage to many larger buildings, including schools, I promised to meet him the next morning in order to assess the damage of the school. I found it truly endearing and meaningful that a college student who resided more than 30 kilometers from the region had such close ties to this school and cared so much that he came out to the beach to search for aid to help a school he no longer attended.

The next day Ali, Appraisman and myself set out for the school via motorbike. We stopped at another school on the way that had asked for help. This was the only high school in the district, and although it had lost one of its main buildings, the government had built a new building in its place but the school was still in need of school supplies, desks, and concrete to finish the building. I had pity for these students and teachers, but knew that this school was being looked after and felt I had to see SMP Negeri 2 that Appraisman had been so keen on finding help for.

We continued our journey out through the main city and north on the main road for about 8 kilometers, over broken road and passing damaged homes and rubble on the way. After the trip, we arrived at the school, or should I say remnants, of the middle school that once stood there.

The school at one time consisted of two large concrete units that made up 6 large classrooms, as well as a wooden, smaller building in the front that acted as the faculty office. What was left of the school was not much. One entire concrete complex of 3 classrooms was completely destroyed. The other building had been cleared out, as the students and faculty feared from other earthquakes and the building had obvious structural damage. Meanwhile, the faculty had built a small, open air, classroom to the side of the main buildings. The faculty office, which was slanting quite noticeably, had been converted into a classroom.

And another area on the field covered by tarps was housing a few desks. The students were in high spirits nonetheless, and when I arrived, they seemed so grateful that I even visited what was left of their school. The school had some 240 students, as well as close to 30 faculty members who were all being strongly affected not only by the destruction to their homes and roads, but to the building they spent most of their time away from home at, this school that bound them together in an attempt to take their mind of the suffering of their people, and an epitaph that showed life must go on.

As soon as I saw the place, I decided this would be the school we would help, in any way possible. Later that night we returned with a truck full of the rest of or ship's lumber, zinc, and included a bunch of tool sets and nails. Although it was only a paltry amount of aid, it was my belief that it would begin to help rebuild these people's lives, at least help to rebuild a place that they could go to continue their studies and try to take their mind off the devastation that surrounded them.

That night, after we all finished loading in a courageous effort that included help from our own mission's volunteers, along with teachers, students, and family members we stood back and praised each other for our honorable lifestyles. These people were truly amazing, with the will to work hard into the night, knowing when they return home, it may only be a tent waiting, possibly without a meal for dinner that night. After all my admiration for these people, then came the rooster.



Although I misunderstood at first, and stated vehemently I could not stay for dinner, then the headmaster walked out of the house with a beautiful rooster under his arm. I begged that I could not take it, but as is the custom, I would only be rude to refuse it. So, after tying up the roosters legs, (it was the most beautiful rooster the man owned), we head back to the boat that night, all feeling very proud and very grateful to have come across a group who needed exactly what we had to offer.

Postscript: Michael named the rooster "Rickie" and he took good care of it.... for about a 4 days. The UV team then voted on the noisy bird and promptly ate it for lunch! I am trying not to read anything into this.....

SIBERUT AREA IDENTIFIED AS SITE OF NEXT MEGA QUAKE

Kerry Sieh has further clarified the indicators that lead to the high likelihood that Siberut will be the site of the next major seismic adjustment.

1. The last adjustment in the Siberut area was in 1797 and given events in the area have followed a 2 century cycle the area is now due or even overdue for the next.

2. Stress buildup studies all indicate that the stress is very high in this section of the subduction zone (see the map above)

3. The East coast of Siberut shows more subsidence/submergence than the other Mentawai islands and that is a good gauge of an area that is ready to be uplifted.

4. The progression of quakes has been moving South towards this area.

Kerry feels that the 1833 model is appropriate to consider as the most likely scale and type of event we can expect. A 4-5m tsunami is the most likely outcome after a 3 minute quake and extensive structural damage.

We have just concluded 2 days of meetings with Padang's Mayor discussing mitigation issues. A proposal is being prepared for the rehabilitation of an old hill top graveyard just South of the city. The proposal calls for the terracing of the area and the establishment of a botanical garden with grassed areas suited for tents between tree bands. Water supply will be reticulated and waste water management incorporated so that the area could support the surrounding populations after a large quake or in the worst case, after a tsunami.

TSUNAMI ANIMATION

For all of us who have worked among the rubble and experienced the smell of death this website will be of interest. The animation link is particularly informative and helps explain why the damage was so extensive in Sri Lanka and South India yet spared the coast of central and South Sumatra. http://www.andaman.org/mapstsunami/tsunami.htm

The site is published by Andaman Island authority, George Weber, and there is some very informed and worthwhile analysis of the risks faced by the region in the aftermath of the recent seismic cataclysm.

NIAS SHIPPING LOG JAM

Our team managed to get a place on the ferry and they are now driving to Gomo in SE Nias. The volunteers will help Dr Laia to remove rubble from his home to make space for the family packs. Unfortunately the second vehicle ferry has broken down again and our 4 trucks are stuck in Sibolga. IOM are planning to transfer the cargo to wooden cargo ships and then reload to trucks in Nias.... transport infrastructure is clearly not coming close to coping with the volume of material heading for Nias and the reconstruction phase is just starting.

Consider that a displaced family may have received a tent (60kg), some clothes (10kg) a food delivery (20kg) and maybe some kitchen items (10kg) = 100 kg in the past month since WFP and IOM got organized with Landing craft and truck convoys.

The materials for a typical framed house with a concrete floor will weigh say 20 tons and about half of that must be imported so assume 10 tons. So to build houses for each displaced family will require 100 months at the current rate of delivery! A masonry house will require about 20 tons of imported material. Then comes public infrastructure etc etc.

Can the people of Nias wait 10 years or more for shelter? Of course not! If only 25% of homes in Nias need to be rebuilt (estimates are much higher) we will be looking at 25,000 buildings or 250,000 tons of shipping for homes alone. That is 350 tons per day for the next 2 years. Current ferries and barges that carry trucks can maybe cope with 100-150 tons per day when they are working to full capacity. (these numbers dont include other goods, infrastrucure materials, food and consumable supplies)

More ships are needed urgently to get supplies to major towns let alone to the remote areas we have been supporting.

OUR ISLANDS ARE RISING because of earthquakes

This just extracted from Kerry Sieh's latest mail:

"My crew is still in the Nias/Banyak region, filling in gaps in our data, but we now have a pretty good map of uplift and submergence associated with both the Dec and March earthquakes. The whole region tilted during the two earthquakes: Simeulue is up on all coasts, higher on the west than on the east (1.65 meters max is at Lasikin airport). Nias is up on the west and generally down on the east (highest uplift is about 2.9 meters near Lahewa. Submergence is less than a meter at sites on the east coast). The Banyaks are up a meter or less west of Pulau Tuangku and down from Pulau Tuangku east)."

I asked for Kerry's opinion on the likelyhood of a major quake/tsunami in the Mentawai area:

"There are so many unknown's in the details of what happened in previous earthquakes that it is best to keep things simple. We know that essentially all of the Sumatran section of the megathrust north of the equator failed in the two giant earthquakes of 2004 and 2005. And we know that none of the section from Siberut to Enganno (0.7 to 5.5 degrees south) has failed since 1833. Furthermore, we know that the most recent ruptures of that section occurred in 1797 and 1833 and that each of these generated big tsunamis along the local coasts. Finally, we know that giant earthquakes occur along this section about every two centuries. Thus, another big earthquake is likely within the next few decades.

To make a more precise, valid prediction at this point is not really possible, in my view."

DISASTERLESS VICTIMS - MENTAWAI

Best of intentions - Very unfortunate message ....and simply not an accurate way to describe the tectonic process. The islands are RISING because of earthquakes and then SLOWLY sinking during the long periods between earthquakes. That kind of headline would not have caused widespread panic and the evacuation of most Government agencies from the Mentawais. The panic in Nias seems to have originated from these posters and even in Simeulue people were deeply worried. It is ironic that the documents were supported by LIPI and distributed by UNESCO.

Everywhere we have interacted with communities in the islands the first thing we are asked is "are our islands sinking?"....... our answer has always been "the islands only exist because of the earthquakes....they are born out of the pushing between Australia and Asia..... without the earthquakes Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai and the other islands would not exist"

We were mystified by the universal fear we were seeing and in Nias there was a panic soon after the Banyaks quake that led to mobbing of ferries and other boats. People wanted to get to the mainland before their islands sank under them. What could cause this kind of rumor to be so widespread..... the answer has come to light. It illustrates the cultural gulf that all of us bringing relief to this area are dealing with. Sometimes the best of intentions are derailed by our mindset being imposed on people who see the world we share very differently.

These are the posters that were distributed in large numbers and at considerable expense throughout the islands. They probably saved a lot of lives and it is tempting to wonder how many more could have been saved if the distribution had reached as far as Aceh..... but this fantastic effort by a totally dedicated team carried a fault line as wide as the Mentawai Straits.



The content is comprehensive but rather complex and overwhelming for people who are share a verbal heritage. Very few Mentawai people express themselves in writing and those that do tend to write in Bahasa Indonesia. The headlines got everyone's attention and the choice of words is a puzzle.

They should have said "OUR ISLANDS ARE NOT SINKING because of earthquakes"..... What a difference one word could have made.

A reprint might help but the economic impact on the Mentawais and other islands has been considerable. Health workers, teachers and most non-native civil servants fled to the mainland and villages have set up camps in the hills. No aid is getting to most of these "disasterless victims". We appeal for help to correct this situation and welcome ideas aimed at countering the rumors and restoring the peoples confidence in their ancient beliefs.... that their islands are safe and the cradle of their culture...... not shrinking and doomed to leave their people "wet and cold in the water".... the literal translation of "malelelep"

6.3 QUAKE JOLTS SIMEULUE ISLAND

2005/06/08 06:28 M 6.3 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA Z= 28km 2.18N 96.69E

This information is provided by the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center.
These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake IN SIMEULUE, INDONESIA has occurred at:
2.18N 96.69E Depth 28km Wed Jun 8 06:28:12 2005 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Wed Jun 8 06:28:12 2005
Time Near Epicenter Wed Jun 8 13:28:12 2005

6.3 would destroy most cities in the world if they were anywhere near the epicenter.
This raises something that has been distressing me since our mission to Nias and Simeulue.

The responsible thing to do at this point is for the RI govt to ban all building using insitu concrete..... until further notice.... like for the next 50 years or so.

Concrete and masonry structures take between 2 weeks and a month to reach full strength and a shake of this magnitude during the cure time will destroy their structural integrity completely. The truly dangerous thing about this kind of pre-cure damage is that it is rarely visible.

Many of the new buildings that we have seen on paper would probably collapse if they were near one of these huge "aftershocks".

Precast structures or frame structures are the only way to go.... preferably using a renewable local resource like giant bamboo as much as possible.

At a meeting with the Minister for Forestry on Sunday we discussed Nias and Aceh. The Minister and his staff are totally supportive of bamboo planting in Nias and totally against the use of masonry. Their team noticed the poor understanding of concrete structures and the universal weakness of concrete mixes due to skimping on imported and expensive cement. What is needed now is new technology.... or maybe some very old proven technology. More on this as it develops.......we are working on it.

ELM BUS IN SIBOLGA

Ali has called to say our team are safe in Sibolga and looking for the IOM trucks. Marion, Emma, Holy and Susan will fly in to Gunung Sitoli on Friday.

ELM MAIL GROUP IS LIVE

Pulau Raya sunset - Image by Marty Martin - Lho Kruet March 2005

Many ELM supporters have already been invited to join our interactive mail group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electriclamb/

If you have not joined, please click on the link above and sign up. We appreciate your feedback and ideas. Help us do a better job and keep in touch with our work in the field.

Thanks from Rick, Jane and the team.

BACK TO NIAS FOR 50TON ROTARY DISTRIBUTION

After weeks of delays due to ferry breakdowns and truck congestion in Sibolga, IOM have finally sent our convoy on its way this morning. Tonight ELM and UV volunteers are aboard a tour bus heading out of Padang as a thunderstorm soaks the city. The plan is to meet the IOM convoy in Sibolga tomorrow and to cross the next evening to Gunuhg Sitoli on the car ferry. The first convoy is carrying 25tons of family boxes each weighing 25kg. The boxes contain enough pots, pans, plates and kitchen supplies for large family as well as clothes and water purification pills.

A second covoy will arrive in Gomo on Saturday with an additional 25tons and the ELM UV teams will work with Dr Fasa (Laia) to distribute in the hardest hit villages. Marion van Dreijden has worked tirelessly over the past month to make sure that ELM managed this major distribution and she will fly from Meulaboh to Gunung Sitoli on the 9th to join our team on the ground.

For ELM, this is the largest distribution we have attempted overland. The lesson we have learned is that the road and ferry system to Nias is overloaded and failing under the strain. We could have delivered this urgently needed aid 4 weeks ago with the right ship and the rest of our team are working round the clock to secure a replacement for Batavia.

5.8 QUAKE HITS LAHEWA, NORTH NIAS

2005/06/03 00:42 M 5.8 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA Z= 14km 1.48N 97.12E

This REVISED information is provided by the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center.

These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake IN THE NIAS REGION, INDONESIA has occurred at:
1.48N 97.12E Depth 14km Fri Jun 3 00:42:00 2005 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Fri Jun 3 00:42:00 2005
Time Near Epicenter Fri Jun 3 07:42:00 2005

This was a very shallow quake (14km) and shallow quakes always cause more destruction than deep ones.

We are checking with NGOs in the area to see what damage has occurred.