ISLAND-AID UPDATES + NEWS

Troppodoc Australia Raise over $12,000 for Medical Work

2009-02-24T06:58:00.006+07:00

Ian Cope (Troppodoc Aus) and Trina Minter put together a dinner auction fundraiser and more than 100 people turned up. The evening was a huge success and Dr Derek has now secured enough funding to continue his medical work in Telos for many months.

Dr Derek and I will continue to use our private time and money to complete the helicopter licensing process. Any donations to support this critical aspect of Troppodoc's work will be very welcome. Visit http://flying-doctor.collectivex.com

The fund-raiser is a great beginning for Troppodoc Australia and hats off to Ian, Trina and the rest of the support team for putting this together in such a fun and effective way.

Rick and Jane in Padang.

Island Aid One of Three Grant Winners in Global Contest

2008-12-02T11:49:00.003+07:00

Central Desktop is one of the world's most popular web based business solutions with a user base of over 200,000 people.

PASADENA, CA--(Marketwire - November 27, 2008) - Central Desktop, Inc. today announced the winners of its Social Technology for Social Good Contest. Audubon Dakota, Island Aid and Imerman Angels will each receive one-year subscription grants to enable them to better interact, share and manage their daily work activities from anywhere at anytime through collaboration software company Central Desktop's pure web based social technology platform for next-generation teams.

"Choosing just three organizations was a really tough decision," said Isaac Garcia, CEO and Founder, Central Desktop, Inc. "Our social technology platform has the ability to support so many types of organizations that rely on grass-roots efforts and geographically dispersed teams of volunteers to get things done. We're just thrilled that we're in a position to help."

Audubon's mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. Central Desktop's platform will be used to strengthen Audubon Dakota's climate coalition team who are working in the fight to curb the effects of climate change. Audubon's collective actions toward global warming solutions range from climate legislation, to weatherization projects, renewable energy use, sustainability skill-shares, carbon credit programs, and more.

Imerman Angels matches cancer fighters and caregivers 1-on-1 with someone who has survived the same type of cancer for support. For free. Worldwide. Central Desktop's platform will be used to support their small team of three paid employees who need help managing the efforts of hundreds of geographically dispersed volunteers as well as their organization's outreach, PR, marketing, fundraising and operational activities.

Island Aid is a volunteer organization that utilizes an innovative ocean-based delivery network to provide emergency and long-term humanitarian assistance to communities affected by natural disasters. Their 'Sea-Bridge' remains the most effective solution for reconstruction support to tens of thousands of tsunami and quake survivors. Central Desktop's platform will be used to organize the hundreds of volunteers needed to support Island Aid's disaster relief efforts that include raising funds, organizing rescue and relief operations as well as internal projects to prepare for future disasters.

About Central Desktop
Central Desktop delivers a pure web based social technology platform for progressive business teams to interact, share and manage their daily work activities from anywhere at anytime. Built collaboratively over the last three years with direct feedback from its users, the Central Desktop platform provides enterprise-grade functionality without enterprise solution resource requirements. Used by over 200,000 people worldwide, Central Desktop's customers represent next-generation organizations with geographically dispersed teams that are committed to using innovative web 2.0 tools for business success.

Central Desktop serves organizations in technology, media, marketing and communications, professional services, architecture, design and many others. Central Desktop's social technology platform consistently delivers a 30% increase in productivity while decreasing the total cost of doing business.

Key Central Desktop customers include: The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign, WebCor Builders, iSoldit, Gymboree, NXTV, Chapters of the Project Management Institute and the California Office of HIPAA Compliance. Founded in 2005, Central Desktop is a privately-held company located in Pasadena, California. For more information, visit www.centraldesktop.com.

Kiwi Doctor in Daring Helicopter Rescue - Fundraiser Launched

2008-09-18T19:39:00.002+07:00

Sumatra - Remote West Coast Islands - Kiwi Doctor in Daring Helicopter Rescue.

On Tuesday May 20th 2008 Dr Allen received a urgent message from a Surf Charter boat Captain Matt Cruden ( Mangalui Indah ) informing him that a 35 year old surfer in the south Mentawai Islands had suffered an neck injury and was paralyzed from below his armpits. This is a very high level of paralysis and Dr Allen knew that the man was in danger of having his muscles for breathing paralyzed, and he would die.

An army helicopter based in Pekanbaru was unable to help as it was flying to another destination. Also, without fuel in Mentawais, the heli would take 5 hours to reach the charter boat as it would need to stop and refuel in Padang.

The Surf Charter boat could return to Padang port but this would take 20 hours and the motion of the sea might cause further damage to the broken neck and trigger respiratory failure. This was a life or death situation.

Dr Allen indicated that he had enough fuel to get to south Mentawai and maybe enough to get directly to Padang. So realizing the life and death nature of the problem, he flew to Sikakap in South Mentawi to meet the charter boat Barrenjoey. At the wharf, Dr Allen examined 35 yo Darren Longbottom and talked the situation over with 2 French doctors and an Australian insurance doctor via telephone. The medical consensus was that the patient needed immediate medical evacuation using the helicopter.

The boat captain agreed that the best chance of saving this man’s life was to ask Dr Allen to fly him by helicopter to Padang where there was a private jet medivac aircraft waiting to transport Mr Longbottom to Singapore. The boat captain was aware that the aircraft was not licensed to fly his passenger but the first concern was to save his life making best use of what ever facilities were available.

Mr Longbottom is 180 cm tall and 95 kg and it took some time to cut a back spinal board to size and to fit him comfortably and securely into the Robinson R22 helicopter. This was done, the helicopter, was refuelled and Dr Allen flew East to coastal West Sumatera and north along the coast toward Padang.

Unfortunately, securing Mr Longbottom into helicopter had taken quite some time and soon Dr Allen realized that he would not be able to fly directly to Padang because of failing daylight and heavy haze. Dr Allen made a late afternoon landing at Tarusan Cerokok and transported the patient to Padang international airport by local ambulance. The medivac aircraft departed for Singapore at 12 midnight and the patient is reported to be in stable condition in hospital but still paralysed from below the arm pits.

Dr Allen returned to the helicopter as soon as the medivac jet had departed and slept on the ground near the helicopter for security. The next day he spent at the Tarusan police station being interviewed/ interrogated, and also sleeping on concrete that night near the helicopter. The next day he spent at the helicopter being interviewed by Lanud officials and sleeping next to helicopter until he was able to arrange a truck to Lanud, Bandara Tabing after midnight.

Dr Allen is appealing for funding to continue the process of gaining Flight Approval. While the helicopter is held in Padang, Dr Allen will loose several days every time he needs to do maintenance work on the helicopter even though the work takes only 30 minutes to complete. Piston driven helicopters require regular engine starts to reduce the risk of corrosion and to comply with the manufacturers and NZ aviation authorities safety schedules. This requires Dr Derek to travel by boat and bus overland to Padang, a journey of 18 hrs one way every time he needs to check and maintain the helicopter. Every day spent in Padang is 50 sick people he is unable to see in Pulau Tello and surrounding islands. Some patients travel from outlying islands a long distance from Telos.

In Telos Dr Allen can take care of regular helicopter maintenance while continuing his medical assistance to the island community.

Of course Dr Derek Allen wants to fulfil the legal requirements of Indonesia and so enable this helicopter medical service to bring help to the communities in these poor and remote islands.
Darren Longbottom, the surfer that Dr Derek rescued, is recovering in Sydney. His story has been covered by Australian Surfing Life Magazine and his friends & local community have raised over A$160,000 to help the family. Derek was the unsung hero in all the media coverage to date and we think the world should know more about his amazing work and his bravery putting everything on the line to save Darren's life.

Dr Derek is helping remote island communities in the Mentawais, Telos and Nias islands where medical support is close to non-existent. The rescue has ironically put this vital work into jeopardy. Derek's helicopter is now impounded and his passport is being held by authorities. Derek needs help and he needs it fast! He has done nothing wrong.... in fact he did everything right! but rules are rules and he had to break a few to get the job done.

This appeal has been launched by friends of Troppodoc to raise funds so that a license can be arranged for the helicopter. Any surplus will be used to continue Derek's vital work in the islands. See http://flying-doctor.collectivex.com

Art Raffel Tickets - Support Island Aid and Win this Fine Work of Art

2008-03-21T07:49:00.004+07:00

"Flourish" by Robin Collins

For those who could not attend our concert, here is a creative way to help with the funding drive for Lautan Megah.

New York artist Robin Collins has donated this fine work of art to support Island Aid. You can purchase raffle tickets by donating $20 via our PayPal button on the website or by mailing cheques to our San Francisco office.

The raffle closes on the 15th of April so please spread the word. The painting is titled "Flourish" (4ft x 5ft) and it is conservatively valued at over $5,000.

Lautan Megah in Padang!

2008-03-21T06:17:00.004+07:00

After a "baptism by fire" delivery trip, Lautan Megah is anchored off Pulau Pisang directly in front of Island Aid headquarters in Padang. Weather conditions for the delivery were some of the worst in 40 years in Indonesia. A combination of multiple cyclones in the Indian Ocean and an extreme monsoon over South Asia generated very strong winds and destructive seas on both the north and south coasts of Java and Bali.

Shipping and interisland ferries were suspended for weeks and 200 village houses were lost on the north coast of Bali alone. The famous Kuta Beach in Bali was pounded by heavy seas and 30+ knot winds for periods of up to a week causing tidal flooding, sand drifts over roads and considerable damage to trees, vegetation and buildings near the beach.

Lautan Megah faced very rough seas in the Java Sea both on the first leg crossing from Sulawesi to Komodo and on the entire second leg up as far as Krakatau Volcano. Once we turned the corner of South Sumatra, the weather moderated and our run up the coast to the Mentawai Islands was a welcome relief. For more details of our voyage please visit The Engine Room.

Island Aid Concert - New York - January 27th

2008-01-21T17:15:00.000+07:00

Click on the concert flier to enlarge it.

On January 27, 2008, Aliza Weinman, our NYC representative for Island Aid and Adam Bailey, our recently returned Sweden representative for Island Aid will be hosting a benefit event at the Sage Theater, 711 7th Ave. (near 48th St) in New York City.

The multimedia event features a powerful and varied program of international entertainment, food, drink all set in a creative ambiance.

Island Aid has secured underwriting for this event from a source, who wishes to remain anonymous, but the underwriter has stipulated that all proceeds from ticket sales get forwarded for the specific purpose of financing Island Aid's new aid ship the KM Lautan Mega.

Tickets are $100 for a single, $150 for a couple, $300 for a table of six and two student tables for $120. Ticket purchase is covered under non-profit tax statutes.

Please be among those who support Island Aid in this essential program. Tickets can be purchased using the “Donations” link from the Island Aid website (please add your name clearly in the info box) or by emailing Ken, kenbarimurray@gmail.com

Fund Us At No Cost While You Search & Shop on-line.

2008-01-20T17:10:00.000+07:00

LAUTAN MEGA needs funding to operate and I would like to introduce a new piece of equipment we have just installed in the ENGINE ROOM. (our new working group where virtual & field volunteers meet and discuss ways to make Island Aid more effective and capable)

GiveStream is a new and unique on-line FUNDING GENERATOR. You can help Island Aid without spending anything at all just by telling others about our special ISLAND AID GiveStream page.

This elegant machinery puts ISLAND AID into the income stream of around 250 retail merchants, each of which generates a certain percentage as a donation direct to us following a successful purchase. The amount you will donate is stated transparently on every product purchase.

The ISLAND AID GiveStream Center also includes an easy to download toolbar with a built in product search engine for finding the very best deals by searching the web through Google, (all the while generating donations to the organization) You are not asked to do anything that you are not already doing every day…. just do it via our portal and help us without it costing you a cent.

If you tell enough other friends about this idea, ISLAND AID will be in a draw to be awarded upto $10,000 in matching donations from GiveStream.

Click here to make a difference from your own desktop just doing what you probably do many times every week.

Lautan Megah Reaches Bali

2008-01-19T17:22:00.001+07:00

After weeks of hard work, 10 Island Aid volunteer crew arrived in Bali at the end of a 1,000+ nautical mile voyage through eastern Indonesia. We are downloading images and preparing a journal for publication as soon as our team return home.

Tsunamis Stike in Steps - Education could Reduce Fear of Huge First Wave

2007-12-21T10:46:00.000+07:00

Stepped waves race towards this Swedish family in Phuket Dec 26th 2004. They all survived.
So did the anchored yachts.

The math of deadly waves
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/23137/The_math_of_deadly_waves.html

February 21, 2006 - When Walter Craig saw the images of the devastating 2004 Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami he felt compelled to act. So he grabbed a pencil and envelope and started calculating.

A little more than a year later, the mathematical analyst says that mathematics has a role to play in washing away misconceptions and myths about these deadly waves - and potentially saving lives.

"Predicting earthquakes is a grand challenge problem that's presently beyond us. But predicting a tsunami's potential based on these earthquakes is a doable problem and I think mathematicians can play an important role in this," says Dr. Craig, the Canada Research Chair for Mathematical Analysis and its Applications, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.

"Mathematics is particularly well suited to defining the possibilities and limitations for a tsunami early warning system," says Dr. Craig. It's a conviction that's prompted him to co-organize the symposium on Tsunamis: Their Hydrodynamics and Impact on People at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in St. Louis, on Sunday, February, 19.

Dr. Craig studies the mathematical theory of wave equations that are derived from physics. In collaboration with colleagues he has applied these theories to scientific problems large and small, from the quantum mechanical oscillations of electrons to the cosmic waves that rippled through the newborn universe. But rarely, he says, does the mathematics of wave propagation meet a subject so full of immediate human importance as with understanding rogue waves.

Mathematics, he says, has a key role to play in dispelling mistaken assumptions about these waves. One such popular belief is that a tsunami's first wave surge is always the biggest.

"It's not necessarily the biggest crest in front," he cautions. "For example, in Sri Lanka the biggest crest was the third or fourth." In one case, he says, a vacationing British geologist at one Sri Lankan resort noted the initial modest, non-destructive surge and warned staff and tourists to clear the beach before the arrival of the larger, deadly surges.

Dr. Craig says that mathematical modelling of the Indian Ocean tsunami showed it to be close to what he calls a "classical wave packet" - the wave behaved in a manner very close to that predicted by mathematical theory. It followed the pattern of a group of waves travelling together as well as evolving in form as they crossed the ocean basin.

Because of differences in depth, the evolution of a tsunami is different in different ocean basins. For example, the Boxing Day tsunami travelled twice as fast in the deeper Indian Ocean than in the Andaman Basin. Tsunami waves are distinguished from ordinary wind-generated ocean waves by their great length between peaks, often exceeding 200 kilometres in the deep ocean, and by the long amount of time between these peaks, ranging from 15 minutes to an hour.

It's the length and width of tsunamis, rather than their at-sea height that reveals their massive power. The Indian Ocean tsunami had a crest length of about 1,200 kilometres. The surges that inundated the Sri Lankan coast were parts of waves that were a stunning 100 kilometres from crest to trough, but in mid-ocean were less than one metre in amplitude.

"It's amazing to think about this. Even if the wave is only a metre high at mid-sea, this is a huge amount of water and it gives a sense of how much energy it's carrying," says Dr. Craig.

Another widely held belief about tsunamis that gets washed away with mathematical modelling is that the surge is always preceded by the tide going abnormally far out.

"This only happens about half the time," explains Dr. Craig. "It depends on the wavelength and whether it's the trough or crest of the wave that reaches shore first. In half the cases it's the surge that arrives first."

Dr. Craig acknowledges that for the most part geologists and tsunami experts have a strong practical understanding of how these giant waves behave. But, he says, given the paucity of real-world data on tsunamis, there are still many outstanding questions.

"To a first order of approximation the current modelling of a tsunami's evolution in mid ocean is very good," says Dr. Craig. "Nonetheless, there is much less known about the generation of tsunami waves, and about the amplification effects as they impact on coastal areas. These are not easy mathematical problems. Experimentally they're not seen very often, so it's still a question as to whether we're using the right equations to study them."

He's presently begun work with McMaster University mathematics colleagues Drs. Bartosz Protas and Nicholas Kevlahan to apply mathematical tools from meteorological forecasting to understand the generation of large tsunamis from major earthquakes. For example, some earthquakes generate large waves, while others of the same magnitude produce little or no wave response. Their approach will use hindcasting techniques - looking back over previous patterns to understand how we arrived at present conditions - to develop predictive computational models for tsunami sources.

While better advanced warning systems can help in many cases, Dr. Craig says his immersion in tsunami science has shown him that a tsunami's speed and power sometimes can defy an early warning system. With a wave traveling at 700 kilometres an hour, his advice is, "If you feel an earthquake, go to higher ground."

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Island Aid's New Support Vessel

2007-11-26T11:12:00.001+07:00

Message from Rick & Jane in Padang:

On September 12th & 13th 2007, three mega quakes bracketed the southern Mentawais generating a tsunami and causing widespread damage. Since then over 70 quakes of 4.5 or greater intensity have buffeted the area. Island Aid assisted aid deliveries via partner NGOs and Government agencies and later using Electric Lamb. Constrained by the lack of a suitable platform we stepped up our efforts to find an aid ship. In late September an associate came to us with a long and complex story about a purchase contract for a small ship that was in dispute. He offered Island Aid the chance to take over the contract for a 100GRT GRP vessel, the KM Lautan Megah (trans: Great Ocean).

KM Lautan Megah during sea trials last week off Luwuk.

Events have unfolded rapidly. Island Aid Director Chris Ranken flew to Jakarta and on the 8th of October he arrived in Luwuk in Sulawesi to secure copies of technical documents and to appraise the vessel's suitability. His report gave us the confidence to commit to sorting out the legal tangle surrounding the stalled purchase contract. On the 29th of October, Island Aid's lawyer, Pak Nasdion Chalid signed a new contract to purchase the Lautan Megah in Surabaya and we agreed to make the final payment owing to secure the vessel subject to inspection. Nasdion and I left for Luwuk on the 4th of November to inspect and sea trial the vessel.

We took possession on the 7th of November and Jane flew to Luwuk on the 11th to help with modifications. Jane and I arrived back in Padang on the 21st of November with renovation work well underway and Lautan Megah in seaworthy condition.

In just 3 months we have raised 25% of our target for funding the ship. Our target is to raise a total of US$200,000 to cover balance of purchase, modifications, delivery, docking and equipping the Lautan Megah for her new role.

Donors to date are:

- Talisman Energy- Jim Buckee
- Gerard & Loon Dijkstra

Jim has just retired from heading up Talisman Energy and we greatly value his advice and guidance. Gerard will be known to many in yachting circles in the US. He has been the lead consultant in the rebuilding of most of the early Americas Cup J Boats including Elizabeth Meyer's Endeavour II. Gerard's most recent commission was to design the stunning Maltese Falcon refit.

These donors and partners have made the acquisition of Lautan Megah possible and now we would like to cast our net wider and raise the balance of the funds. Our target is to find an additional 25% by the 26th of December, the anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that bought us together to form Electric Lamb Mission. The balance of 50% we propose to raise by mid February to fund the modification and equipping of the ship.

Island Aid (as we are now known) now faces an unprecedented situation.

Seismic Synopsis

Note the 2007 quake cluster added by me to one of Cal Tech's maps. This is yet to be confirmed by the team who are studying the Sumatra Plate area. The Siberut /Telos area (between the 2005 and 2007 events) is now very highly loaded and overdue to slip. Observation and GPS monitoring confirm an alarming rate of subsidence on Siberut's East coast coupled with large creep measurements.

In the face of general paralysis and even complacency displayed by responsible institutions and inertia among the populations that are now at greatest risk, we must do all we can to prepare and find specific solutions for many isolated island communities who now face real and present danger. In the wake of the recent Mentawai earthquakes and tsunami, a great deal of reconstruction work lies ahead. The Mentawai & Telos Islands have some of the worst health statistics in all of Indonesia.

Early British explorers named the largest island, Siberut, "The Isle of Goed Fortuin" because of the abundance of natural resources enjoyed by the islanders. Since discovery by European traders, the Mentawais & Telos rich timber resources have been exploited by a succession of colonial interests and local administrations but very little of the island's wealth has been reinvested in the form of infrastructure.

There are almost no roads, no power grid, two tiny airstrips, and telecommunications are limited to a few larger towns. Limited medical facilities are out of reach of the vast majority of the population. The Mentawai - Telos archipelago stretches for over 320 nm, has a land area 50% greater than Bali and is home to over 100,000 people. Our new mission is clear.

Aceh and Nias proved the effectiveness of our sea bridge concept and we can now apply what we learned to achieve what others are not equipped to attempt.

Our strategy to enploy a small fuel efficient ship and a fleet of beach landing boats remains unchanged. The proximity of the Mentawais and Telos Islands to mainland ports argues for a smaller more nimble ship than the Batavia and we believe we have found the ideal platform in Lautan Megah.

We must be flexible and keep administrative overheads to the minimum. We will now need to employ crew and key staff but we have a clear and viable plan to not only support the ship operation but to generate a surplus that can be used for community work in the region.

Our focus in modifying the new ship will be to accommodate medical and first responder teams as well as carry as much hand loaded aid as possible. Once we have established the service and have a settled cash flow, we will investigate other vessels for heavy cargo work. Lautan Megah's passenger accommodation space, deck cargo and fuel capacity are more than adequate for the role we envisage in the Mentawai/Telos area.

To make an online contribution please visit our website www.island-aid.org and click the 'donate' buttons.

Supporters open to a more 'hands-on' long term involvement may make a 'soft investment' in the company we will establish to own the Lautan Megah. Soft investors may be corporations, individuals or groups who are able to make a minimum commitment of US$20,000 for a 10 year period interest and dividend free. Our target is to raise $200,000 from 10 subscribers for shares in the ship-owning company.

This type of 'soft investment' is not a tax deductible donation and sponsors/soft investors will be offered the option of prominent logo placement on the ship and on our website. We will work with soft investors to publish a custom corporate responsibility page featuring Island Aid activities onboard the ship and in target communities. In this way corporations or business people can utilize advertising or corporate responsibility budgets at low long term cost while conserving their capital.

I am preparing a more detailed proposal for circulation to interested parties but please feel free to forward this message to anyone you think may be keen to be involved.

Warm regards

Rick & Jane in Padang

Electro-hydraulic variable pitch propellor controls, electro-hydraulic
Steering and autopilot station, radar, GPS, VHS, SSB. Built as a government
funded fisheries research vessel, no expense was spared.

Main engine is a Yanmah 6UA-UT 750 hp at 950 rpm
Cruise speed is 10.5knots at 650 rpm = 65 ltrs/hr total or 1.5 tons/day
(compare this with Batavia at 445ltrs/hr or 10.5 tons/day)

The hull is 30mm solid GRP. Decks are 40mm GRP/Balsa sandwich
All rails, funnel, vents and masts are stainless steel
Doors are watertight.

Ship builders in Luwuk installing new hardwood rails and bollards.

Carpenters working on the new convertible cargo/accommodation space

Island Aids new headquarters

OBI & MMTA REPORTS

2007-10-30T10:55:00.000+07:00

OBI aid delivery and OBI medical teams in Mentawai.
Attached is a detailed breakdown of the 57 villages/subvillages (dusuns) reached.

The 'packet' referred to in the list is a Family Packet weighing about 7 kg and containing a wide range of essential items, sugar, coffee, sambal, sardines etc
It was not considered necessary to deliver cooking oil as the area has ample coconut reserves and it is common for Mentawai people to render down their own oil.
Water is plentiful and just needs boiling. Wood fuel is plentiful for this task.

Main needs identified are tarps, tools and building materials in that order of importance.

Weather conditions have improved with good visibility. Swell is medium to heavy.

MMTA / Island Aid / FORMA Situation Report 22nd Sept 2007

Planned Distribution
Loading list for Katurai - South Siberut - Electric Lamb - Departure tonight
- 25 person tent for temporary school
- Family tents
- Noodles
- Rice
- Tarps
- Building materials
Quantities TBA

Aid Delivery to POSKO
2,500 Family tents donated by MEDCO have arrived and are being packed and prepared at POSKO
Large tent donated by TELKOM
Distribution in partnership with PEMDA Mentawai

OBI Field Trip - Report
OBI team returned from Muara Siberut this morning and have given us their full report.
Confirm supplies dropped in Sikakap and Muara Siberut.
Food and shelter plus Family Packs to 57 Dusuns (villages) in Central Pagai and South Siberut. (details to follow)

OBI Medical Teams
4 doctors and 3 nurses supported by MAF aircraft

Dusun Muara Siberut: 386 patients
Dusun Tailelue: 212 patients

Dusun Masubuk (Sikakap): 300 patients

Steps cut into the hills in Katurai area for fast evacuation to high ground

OBI_distribution0001.PDF

Aid Deliveries - Mentawai

2007-09-24T10:51:00.000+07:00

Island Aid's Aceh and Nias partners, Operation Blessings International were one of the first NGOs to arrive in Padang with substantial supplies. Obor Berkat Indonesia (their local chapter) mobilized a convoy of trucks from Medan and Jakarta to impacted areas in Bengkulu Privince and to Padang. After liason with MMTA volunteers, a cargo boat was arranged and loading and clearance expedited in Muara port.

22 tons of aid and we managed to get the boat out at 11pm on the 19th of September bound for Sikakap/Malakopa/Silabu/Betumonga area.

Aid includes 7.5tons of rice, 50 tarps, tikas, medical kits, 1,500 family packets (sugar/coffee/soap/candles/sardines/sambal/matches/torch)

OB also have a medical team in the area and more on the way. MAF are flying to Rokot airport after failing to land at the old airstrip at Sikakap (overgrown and unusable at this time)

MMTA / Island Aid Loading list - Beriloga Ferry yesterday (20th Sept) - Destination Sikakap

- 250 x 5 person tents courtesy of MEDCO
- 300 mattresses
- 20 large 20 person tents
- 150 tikas (mats)

One large truck with 2,500 cartons of noodles (40 meals per carton) arrived from MEDCO today. Waiting loading
We are expecting another delivery of 1,000 tents from MEDCO.

The 6.7 quake yesterday has made everyone in Padang very nervous. It was not the biggest but it was the closest so far to Padang and the shaking was severe.

Damage to buildings in Padang is far more widespread than is obvious from the street. Many buildings are definitely in a dangerous state with shear walls fractured and indications of subsidence. In many cases modern multi story buildings have suffered more than older 2-3 story buildings. Large glass areas or shuttered open shop fronts at street level result in almost no cross bracing on the street elevation and so all loads are concentrated on the back walls. That is where most of the damage is found and it cant be seen from the street.

Buildings that are oriented with long axis to aligned with the coast seem to have been damaged worse than those aligned perpendicular to the coast.

More images of damage to other towns:

Tua Pajet

Betumonga

Sikakap

Field reports > Mentawai operations.

2007-09-19T10:17:00.000+07:00

Yannick,

Like you we are frustrated by the lack of good maps. The Govt have them but we can not access them from Padang. Bear with us while we sort this out.

MMTA/Island Aid are working with FORMA manning the new POSKO in Muara harbor, Padang

We have a free phone for anyone to use courtesy of TELKOM.

Last night Island Aid's main Aceh partner, Obor Berkat loaded 22 tons of aid and we managed to get the boat out at 11pm bound for Sikakap/Malakopa/Silabu/Betumonga area.

Aid includes 7.5tons of rice, 50 tarps, tikas, medical kits, 1,500 family packets (sugar/coffee/soap/candles/sardines/sambal/matches/torch)

OB also have a medical team in the area and more on the way. MAF are flying to Rokot airport after failing to land at the old airstrip at Sikakap (overgrown and unusable at this time)

Malakopa is sometimes named Malakopak but most of your names are correct. We need a map!

Thanks for your patience and help.

Rick

On 19 Sep, 2007, at 5:57 AM, Cathay Seas travel consulting wrote:

Dear all,

Please find enclosed the latest Field reports, website updated as well : www.CathaySeas.com/rescue.htm

I cannot engage Cathay Seas in mapping the operations, by lack of a reliable 'base map' and absolutely 0 feedback regarding the accuracy of our previous m1 Overview map .
[United Nations Cartographic Section : any idea to cover the Mentawai archipelago at 1:50000 ?]

There's an interesting challenge here : how to achieve a reference document without information to achieve it ? I can work on the subject, but i guess it can't help to display the operations in real time. Too bad.

Keep the news coming, i am optimistic by nature and don't despair to solve the problem impromptu.

-Yannick.

*****************************************************************
Yannick, editor of www.CathaySeas.com
Cathay Seas :
China & South East Asia surfers.
****************************************************************

------ Original Meassage ------
From Cathay Seas
Tuesday, 19 september 10:00pm GMT

Padang is the logistics hub for aid delivery by boat.
Island Aid, Mentawai Marine Tousim Association (MMTA), Surf Aid International (+UNICEF +UN OHCA).
INDIES TRADER 1 ship awaiting to upload, among others (ships names ?).
Padang > Siberut = 10 to 12 hours trip.

500 basic tool kits + 500 basic shelter kits arrived in Sikakap from Padang (Surf Aid).
Distribution with local fishing boats + 01 surf charter ship (BLUE FIN or SURF CAT) planned
19 september in Silabu, Betumonga, Maigiruk, Tumale and Gogoa.

Regular ferry D'BORA leaving Padang 19 sept. evening (local time) to Tuapejat then Sikakap :
load of 500 basic tools and 500 basic shelter kits, "possibly hygiene kits".
D'BORA will deliver cargo to 3 villages/day between Malakopap - Surat Aban (end 26 sept. ?).

Surf Aid ship MELALEUCA leaving Padang 21 sept. evening (unconfirmed) towards Sinaka
then east coast through Makalo and back to Sikakap.

------ Original Meassage ------
From Cathay Seas
Tuesday, 18 september 09:30am GMT

Latest quake : 18 sept. 08:41am GMT : M5,7 @ 32km deep.
Send a message to <bigquake-subscribe@eqinfo.wr.usgs.gov>
to receive free e-mail *after* each earthquake above magnitude 5.5, worldwide.
This DOES NOT imply or deny human emergency, this is NOT tsunami warning.

Current needs : food, baby food, shelters, drinking water, reconstruction materials.
Most damage south and west coast Mentawai, few injuries, less 50 casualties.
Strong west winds and heavy rain.
Several ships of Surf Aid International docked in Padang, waiting to upload cargo (money, money, money).

*** Please confirm villages' location (which is where on which island ?) to update base map ***

SIBERUT ISLAND :
-Maguiruk (70 families) : 10% population evacuated thought no damage or injuries. Church damaged.

South Siberut :
-No news from Taileleu (05 dusuns including Kirit, Baddan and Maonai) : medic. staff onway from South Siberut
with supplies.

SIPURA :
-Tuapejat : distribution of 180 mosquito nets.
From Tuapejat, ditributing medications, food, tarpaulins to displaced population.
-Pukarakyat (57 homes) : 20% houses down, population in the hills "using banana leaves as shelters".
-Berimanua (60 houses) : 75% houses down.
-Katurai village (05 hamlets) -???-
-Hamlets of Katiet, Sao and Mongan Bosua are all empty as people have fled to the hills.
-No damage to the Quiksilver SurfAid Community Health Training Centre.

NORTH PAGAI (Pagai Utara) :
- Sikakap : PosKo (government Command Post), 120 houses destroyed.
First ship loaded with emergency supplies (Surf Aid) from Padang : ETA Tuesday morning, 18 September.
-Betumonga (90 families) : 80 % of homes uninhabitable, 14 houses down. Primary school down "including
chairs and tables".
- Silabu (Macas) over 50% of homes damaged beyond repair or submerged due to subsidance.
Surf Aid team on site with supplies.

SOUTH PAGAI (Pagai Selatan) :
- Malakopak (Thunders and Rags surf breaks) report 100% of homes unusable. 300+ families displaced.
-Tiop and Sarausau dusuns (hamlets) evacuated to higher ground behind the villages, population afraid to return home.
- Sinaka (Hole and Lighthouses) 6 homes remain useable.
- Seai Lama (50 families) : light damage but population afraid to go back inside. 12 mosquito nets could be
distributed only, no tarpaulins, tents nor food.
FOOD SUPPLIES DEPLETED.

-----Original Message-----
From: Cathay Seas
Sent: Friday 14 september 2007 08:00pm GMT

PERMANENT TSUNAMI ALERT recomended.

Siberut, Sipura, Pagai Utara, Pagai Selatan in need of assessment on the west coasts.
Next days strong NW winds : all ships / light shelters beware.

(read also below for a complete picture)

IDEP Foundation from north Bengkulu :
- provide temporary shelters to 500 homeless families in the districts of Lias + Air Sebakul, north of Bengkulu.
5.500 houses are reported damaged in the area, lightly or severly. 123 houses are down.
- set up public kitchens for 3 daily meals x 2.000 people.(6.000 meals /day)
- provide 5.000 liters of drinking water by truck to distant communities, 3 times a day. (15.000 liters /day)
- attend 100 wells for direct use by the locals.

UHF frequencies in use between teams.

-----Original Message-----
From: Cathay Seas
Sent: September 13, 2007 10:00pm GMT

Cathay Seas suggest to be on PERMANENT TSUNAMI ALERT until risk is really reduced.
Watch for quick receding sea on shores, roaring sound, strong earth shakes.

Coastal populations moved inland and to altitude from Padang to Bengkulu.
High rate of road accidents due to heavy traffic of stressed people.
On any single place, maximum 30% damage reported so far (damage = unsafe for living) .

NIAS & north : no damage
SIBERUT : East coast light damage, heavy damages in Sikakap due to tsunami (height ?).
WEST COAST NO CONTACT
(MENTAWAI) : Tua Pajet city + Sipura 30% hard buildings unsafe, wood structures OK.
Several tourism / surf resorts damaged on masonry but no injuries or major destruction.
PAGAI isl. : 03 meters tsunami. NO CONTACT from south coast
BENGKULU : high damage but out of reach from our core area of reach. 09 killed, 40 injured so far.

PADANG :
BMC hospital unsafe, evacuated. Patients outside in streets. 6 died by lack of medic care.
Padang Arau (Sumatran Surfariis headquarters) has walls cracked but still fine.
Bumi Minang hotel fractured, unsafe.
Pangaran Beach hotel OK.
Rocky plaza hotel doubtful.
Plaza Ramayana closed until destruction.
Plaza Andalas unsafe.

Fuel availability OK.
Water OK.
Some shops open.
Electric power OK but shuts down after every little shake (fire risk).
Port operational.

Helicopter of Heli Doc grounded because no administrative flight authorization.

[check also the Directory on www.CathaySeas.com]

Quakes Rock Indonesia; Experts Warn of 'Big One'

2007-09-15T19:50:00.000+07:00

September 14, 2007
AP

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — A series of powerful earthquakes has terrorized residents in western Indonesia — including another one that triggered a fresh tsunami warning Friday — leaving thousands sleeping on plastic in the hills and each new aftershock triggering a fresh round of panic.

Seismologists warn the worst may be yet to come.

Photo: A motorist passes a damaged road along the coastal area of Ketahuan, Indonesia's Bengkulu province, Friday. Indonesia's meteorology agency issued a tsunami warning on Friday after another strong earthquake struck southern Sumatra island. (By Crack Palinggi, Reuters)

Kerry Sieh, from the California Institute of Technology, has spent decades studying the volatile fault line. He is one of several experts predicting a repeat of the massive earthquake that triggered the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen Indian Ocean nations.

"No one can say whether it will be in 30 seconds or 30 years," he said. "But what happened the other day, I think is quite possibly a sequence of smaller earthquakes leading up to the bigger one."

An 8.4-magnitude quake that shook Southeast Asia on Wednesday was followed by dozens of strong aftershocks — including one measuring magnitude 7.8 and another 7.1 — that killed 13 people, damaged hundreds of houses and spawned a 10-foot-high wave.

A 6.4-magnitude temblor hit the area again on Friday, triggering the latest in a string of tsunami warnings that have further traumatized people living in coastal communities. Hundreds fled inland by foot, motorcycle and truck before the alert was lifted.

The wall of water that slammed into several fishing villages along Sumatra island's coast Wednesday swept away nearly a dozen houses, but overall damage was "minimal," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after an Air Force aerial survey.

Photo: An Indonesian woman weeps outside her house that was destroyed by an earthquake on Sumatra island, Indonesia, Friday. (By Dita Alangkara, AP)

A nine-member U.N. assessment team reached the same conclusion after visiting the area, saying that a major international relief operation was not required, John Holmes, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement from New York.

Many people said a public awareness campaign launched after the 2004 tsunami paid off, including warnings issued over mosque speakers and training provided by local officials on how to escape a disaster.

"When the earth started shaking, some people yelled, 'It's time to go up the hill ... let's get going," said Fadil, 35, a father of two, describing how he and hundreds of neighbors watched from above as the 10-foot wave approached. Hundreds of houses were damaged, but no one died.

Elsewhere, however, electricity blackouts prevented some sirens from going off.

The three massive quakes — together with the 9.0-magnitude temblor in 2004 and a 8.7 tremor in early 2005 — deeply concerns experts.

The fault, which runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra about 125 miles offshore, is the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates, which have been pushing against each other for millions of years, causing huge stresses to build up.

"There is a strong indication this foreshadows the big one," said Danny Hillman, an earthquake specialist at the Indonesian Institute of Science. "We all agree there is an 8.5 or stronger earthquake waiting to happen."

That's exactly what residents along Sumatra's western coast, which is expected to bear the brunt of the next disaster, are worried about. The island was hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the deaths.

In the tiny fishing village of Sungai Pisang, just south of the badly damaged city of Padang, hundreds of people were too scared to return home after the recent tremors sent a large wave washing into their bay.

At a camp pitched on a muddy hillside cemetery, they have been sleeping atop plastic sheets or on the cold ground between graves. A small generator powers a light bulb, hung over branches in the thick tropical undergrowth, but there is little else.

"I am very afraid of another tsunami," said Dasima, a 50-year-old rice farmer who fled with her 7-year-old grandson, Rolin. "We only cook our rice in the town and then return here to eat and sleep. We will stay here until we feel it is safe."

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, with a population of 235 million people, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-09-14-indonesia-quake_N.htm

Current Indonesian Shakers

Mag. 5.0 Sept. 14 06:01:34 -4.108 101.220 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA

Mag. 6.4 Sept. 14 06:01:34 -4.108 101.220 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA

Mag. 5.4 Sept. 14 04:03:44 -2.179 100.088 29.3 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 14 03:07:14 -3.010 101.083 39.2 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 4.8 Sept. 14 02:34:51 -0.466 98.141 21.5 KEPULAUAN BATU
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 14 01:31:57 -3.757 100.759 27.5 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.5 Sept. 14 01:02:06 -3.696 101.845 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.3 Sept. 13 23:12:31 -3.108 100.971 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 18:30:38 -2.565 99.763 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.5 Sept. 13 16:59:26 -2.118 99.978 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 6.2 Sept. 13 16:09:09 -3.247 101.439 3.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.6 Sept. 13 15:08:54 -4.354 101.212 24.5 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 18:30:38 -2.565 99.763 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.5 Sept. 13 16:59:26 -2.118 99.978 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 6.2 Sept. 13 16:09:09 -3.247 101.439 3.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.1 Sept. 13 13:43:58 -2.998 100.215 35.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.6 Sept. 13 13:10:15 -2.786 100.863 28.7 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 13 12:12:59 -3.691 100.694 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 11:57:17 -2.034 99.434 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 6.2 Sept. 13 09:48:43 3.794 126.411 21.9 KEPULAUAN TALAUD
Mag. 5.4 Sept. 13 09:21:35 -2.164 99.748 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 4.8 Sept. 13 08:01:56 -2.773 100.292 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 13 06:32:48 -2.072 99.405 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 06:28:51 -2.029 99.383 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.1 Sept. 13 05:53:23 -3.979 100.553 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 4.9 Sept. 13 05:48:44 -3.988 100.511 24.5 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 05:44:14 -3.735 100.706 2.8 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.5 Sept. 13 05:23:24 -1.686 99.717 38.9 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 13 04:06:10 -1.723 99.567 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 7.0 Sept. 13 03:35:26 -2.160 99.581 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.5 Sept. 13 02:51:31 -2.049 99.790 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.9 Sept. 13 02:30:01 -1.639 99.697 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.0 Sept. 13 01:55:44 -3.869 101.629 10.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 13 01:49:04 -2.331 99.404 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 13 01:38:05 -1.902 99.734 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.8 Sept. 13 01:26:33 -2.039 99.730 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 7.9 Sept. 12 23:49:04 -2.506 100.906 30.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.1 Sept. 12 23:19:44 -4.082 100.907 10.0 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA
Mag. 5.4 Sept. 12 22:17:17 -2.897 100.757 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.1 Sept. 12 22:02:23 -4.609 101.280 10.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.3 Sept. 12 17:04:33 -7.598 126.085 307.3 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA
Mag. 5.9 Sept. 12 16:37:01 -3.142 101.377 21.2 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 12 15:35:08 -4.262 101.008 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 6.0 Sept. 12 14:40:02 -3.227 101.361 18.8 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 4.9 Sept. 12 14:04:57 -4.239 101.196 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.3 Sept. 12 13:17:17 -3.308 100.654 32.8 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 5.6 Sept. 12 13:02:07 -2.946 101.352 35.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA
Mag. 5.2 Sept. 12 12:21:44 -2.667 100.318 10.0 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI Reg.
Mag. 8.4 Sept. 12 11:10:26 -4.521 101.370 30.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Australia_eqs.php

Quakes Intensify and Move Into Mentawai Islands

2007-09-13T14:14:00.000+07:00

After the 8.4 (revised from 7.9) quake yesterday evening our area has experienced 16 strong earthquakes. The most recent struck at 10.31am and registered 7.1 on the central west coast of Sipura. Five of the quakes have exceeded 7.1 and at least two have triggered tsunamis.

The quakes started in the Bengkulu/Enganno area 250 nm south of Padang and they have progressively moved north west.

Bengkulu suffered severe damage to buildings and at latest count the number killed stands at 9 persons.

Several buildings in Padang have collapsed killing one person. A large mall was severely damaged and partially burned due to electrical shorts resulting from last nights quake. Many buildings have been severely cracked and are not considered safe. Most of the coastal population have evacuated their homes and have moved to high ground.

Most domestic and international airlines have suspended flights to Padang. SMA have suspended flights to Mentawai until the condition of the Rokot airstrip can be assessed. Mandala are operating limited flights.

There is still no news from large sections of the west coast between Padang and Bengkulu. The south end of Pagai Island will have taken the full force of the tsunami and there are no reports from that area.

Sikapap in Pagai was damaged by a 3 m tsunami that has destroyed homes and shops along the waterfront. Food supplies have been lost and help has been requested by boat.

Charter boat operators have moved to anchor in deep water. Most have now reported that their boats are safe but some passengers had lucky escapes.

While there have not been any fatalities in the islands to date, communities are traumatized and many have lost homes, boats and businesses near the coast. Most fear returning to the coast and families are living on hill tops or slopes. Tarps are urgently needed for temporary shelter.

Donations will be used to purchase family buckets, tarps, building material and to mobilize boats to help in the area.

Padang Shaken - Some Structural Damage - Tsunami Warning Issued

2007-09-12T19:40:00.000+07:00

A major quake has caused serious damage to homes near the coast around Bengkulu about 200nm south of the Mentawai Islands.

Padang buildings have suffered mild to severe physical damage. The population are on high alert and expecting after shocks. At least two buildings have collapsed and one person has been killed.

We have had reports of buildings collapsing in Bengkulu and people along the coast have evacuated to high ground.

Island Aid are attempting to contact family and friends in the coastal city to lean more about the damage.

Magnitude 7.9

Date-Time

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 11:10:23 UTC
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 06:10:23 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location

4.519°S, 101.346°E

Depth

10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Region

SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

Distances

105 km (65 miles) SW of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia

385 km (240 miles) SW of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia

385 km (240 miles) WSW of Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia

605 km (375 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Anniversary Gift for Siraha

2007-03-31T14:52:00.000+07:00

March 28th marked the 2nd anniversary of the mega quake that devastated Nias and Dr Fasa just called with some amazing news. It seems that a Catholic charity group learned about the plight of Siraha village from our web-blog story "Saved by the Windship" (April 2006)

............."The March 28 quake dropped a 150m wide section of the village (Dusun Siraha) straight down at least 50m. Most of the trees are still standing but they are all skewed at crazy angles. A few houses lie almost intact but 7 were swallowed by the earth and there is no sign of them.

Miraculously only 2 people died and they described their descent as slow enough for them to run to hang onto trees as the earth buckled and fractured all around. The visual impact is difficult to capture with a camera. The rift subsidence extends several kilometers to the east and then curves past the village to the west.

Sheer walls of gravel and clay overlook the jumbled landscape that has dropped vertically without any sign of a land slide or horizontal displacement. An unforgettable sight and one this community must now live with and reconcile with their future".........

The story of our helicopter medivac of critically ill Hulu Hukkubah and the extraordinary damage suffered by this small community inspired Charitas to raise funds for a long term project that involves re-building all the houses destroyed in the quake, a new 9km road & 2 huge bridges.

To grasp the enormity of this task is just not possible unless you have trekked up through the mountains and ravines to reach this mountain top community. We will monitor and report on progress. The Caritas head quarters have been established next to Dr Fasa's clinic in Gomo township and he will send us images regularly.

Talang Volcano Eruptions Raise Alert

2007-03-20T15:41:00.000+07:00

Last years eruption of Talang resulted in
the evacuation of over 25,000 villagers

Tuesday the 20th of March:
An significant explosive eruption sent ash from 800 to 1,000m above the summit of Mount Talang (2,580m) early this morning . Activity has been building since the March 6th earthquakes along the Sumatran fault. Merapi Volcano 50m north of Talang is also showing signs of increased activity.

Volunteers Aid Quake Victims

2007-03-20T13:34:00.000+07:00

A team of up to 12 Island Aid volunteers spent the past week assisting Sumatran quake victims in the hardest hit areas. In Gunung Rajo and Aie Angek over 90% of homes are damaged beyond repair. Our volunteers distributed food and water, tools and tarps to 3 villages and prepared detailed reports.

Our reports have been forwared to IOM and they have assured us that blankets and tarps will be sent to the high altitude villages first. Most residents are living outside under open sided tarps and the area has been experiencing strong winds and heavy rain.

Almost every school in the area has been destroyed and most rice milling plants as well.

Temperatures at 1,500m can drop to below 12 deg and families are reporting that children are suffering from respiritory problems and dysentry. Water suppies and food staples are adequate but the cost of reconstruction is daunting for the areas farming community.

Padang Rocked by 6.3 Quake

2007-03-06T15:27:00.000+07:00

Region: WEST SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Geographic coordinates: 0.536S, 100.498E
Magnitude: 6.3 Mw
Depth: 30 km
Universal Time (UTC): 6 Mar 2007 03:49:41
Time near the Epicenter: 6 Mar 2007 10:49:41
Local time in your area: 6 Mar 2007 03:49:41

Location with respect to nearby cities:
49 km (30 miles) NNE (20 degrees) of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
159 km (99 miles) SW (222 degrees) of Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia
312 km (194 miles) SE (143 degrees) of Sibolga, Sumatra, Indonesia
424 km (264 miles) WSW (242 degrees) of SINGAPORE

Padang city was largely spared serious damage but the mountain towns of Padang Panjang, Batusangkar and Solok have been seriously hit with many buildings reported to have been totally destroyed.

Aftershocks continue and the death toll is over 58 according to latest reports from the field. Island Aid volunteer Ali Nurdin is in the worst hit area and reporting back to Island Aid headquarters. All our staff have reported in safe. No tsunami was generated and the Mentawai islands appear to be undamaged.

We will update as more news comes in from the field.

Your donations will assist us to send field teams into the worst hit areas.
Please visit our 'donations' page for options.

Offers for help from past partners and others are coming in by the hour. We are not yet sure of the requirements in the field but welcome your registration via e-mail or our volunteer page.

Enawati and Sotarian Back in Gomo.

2006-12-19T04:12:00.000+07:00

The girls are finally reunited with their families in Gomo and Dr Fasa says they everyone is very excited by the dramatic improvement in their freedom of movement and general enthusiasm for life.

Dr Fasa is arranging for both girls to attend a special boarding school in Medan to help them catch up with the education they have missed as a result of their burns and treatment. We are launching a new appeal on fundable to pay their final medical bill and to help with living and travel expenses.

Heart felt thanks from the girls and their families to all the donors and volunteers who have changed their lives. Zach, Chris and Lisa in particular have made extraordinary efforts and everyone at Island Aid would like to thank you and your families and friends for their kindness and hard work. The girls will now have a Christmas to remember with their family and friends.

Enawati's scars are still terrible but she can move her head and arms freely. To remind you of how bad her situation was please visit http://www.gomogirlsfund.com/ and take a look a the video of her burns before the operation.

Dr Fasa Visits Padang

2006-12-19T03:24:00.000+07:00

After weeks of waiting for an opportunity to travel from Gomo to Padang, Dr Fasa finally made it yesterday morning. He is now the proud owner of a MacBook laptop and software donated by Lisa Friesen and friends via Island Aid. Dr Fasa spend all day at Island Aid HQ learning how to operate the computer and managed to download all his images and send them by e-mail on his first try. "This is so easy.... I always had so much trouble to send images to people... thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Special thanks to Lisa and family for raising the funds for the computer. It has taken a while to get it safely into Dr Fasa's hands but he insisted on picking it up in person to avoid any risk that it might not make it my mail or package delivery to his remote village. UNDP have set up a hot spot at the local village administration office and Dr Fasa is looking forward to contacting all his donors and friends to keep them updated on progress in his area.

Inland Quake Kills 4 in North Sumatra

2006-12-19T03:09:00.000+07:00

Jakarta, Dec 18 (DPA) A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's north and west Sumatra provinces Monday morning, killing at least four people and damaging a number of homes, officials said.

The quake occurred at about 4:39 a.m. local time (2139 GMT Sunday), 47 km underground, said Fauzi, an official at Aceh's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

A resident of north Sumatra's Mandailing Natal district told Jakarta's Elshinta private radio station that at least four people were killed by the quake, one house collapsed and many others were damaged.

10 minutes before the Mandailing quake, a 5.7 quake struck just west of Pulau Raya, Aceh. No reports of damage or injury have been received at this point.

The Mandailing quake was felt strongly in Maninjau and Bukittinggi areas but it was hardly noticed in Padang.

Indonesia, the world largest archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

On December 2004, a magnitude 9.0-quake generated a tsunami that devastated coastlines around the Indian Ocean and left more than 220,000 people dead or missing.

"Tsunami! Tsunami!" Leading Performance - 7th International Womens Playwrights Conference

2006-11-20T09:53:00.000+07:00

BREAKING NEWS

Island Aid volunteer Julie Janson is in Jakarta for the 7th International Women's Playwright's conference.

Her play "Tsunami! Tsunami!" has been selected as the opening work for reading to a theatre full of the worlds leading contemporary playwrights.

Inspired by her long stay aboard Batavia, Julie's work will be performed for the first time in the city that lent so much support to our efforts to load and provision the ship.

Good luck Julie! Photos as soon as we get them.

SYNOPSIS
So this is death’s liquid gate. What are these insects sucking my withering skin ? Am I wearing a corpse costume? What am I waiting for, just let go and slip into the water. I float and hang on to soaked straw, a roof maybe. How long does it take to saturate and sink in the Andaman Sea? What will the water taste like in my mouth? Full of corpse liquid. Banyak infectisi. But I can’t get sick, I am almost dead. I’m laughing. My feet are blue, like Jesus feet, crossed and aquiline. Bloated fish rise to the surface, their bulging eyes stare at me.

I am standing on the destroyed tarmac at Meuloboh. 10,000 people died here. The town is rubble. Washed away. I look blankly around in the humidity, there is an Indonesian army tent, with soldiers lounging, smoking kreteks. I vaguely suspect I might have to sleep in their tent, using my bag as a pillow.

No hotel here. No hot water, no spa. I stand perspiring, holding my three large bags of cosmetics. Lipstick for Aceh. If you had lost everything and you were a woman living in a blue tent, you might like a gold Revlon lipstick. Shades of pink blush, flame red. I also have mata gelas, reading glasses and imitation swiss army knives. Plastic dinosaurs. Combs, sewing kits, silk scarves. All gifts from the Catholic mothers of Sydney.

The other volunteers on my plane have been met and driven away in flash white Toyotas with UN on the side, important German doctors. No One to meet me. What am I doing here? A young soldier strolls up, he flicks his kretek, “mau kemana Bu?” Where do I want to go? “Saya mau pergi ke Lo Kruet”.

He motioned to Mr Ed a lone American directing helicopters, he is Missionary Aviation Fellowship. Christians offering flights in disaster areas. I explain my destination and in five minutes I am in a four seater next to an Achenese woman in bandages. “Saya Guru dari Australia”...... She smiles.

We fly over a hundred atom bomb sites, the whole east coast of Sumatra has sunk into the sea. A tangle of broken Palm trees and grey mud. Roads disappeared under water. Rows of blue tents instead of villages. We fly very low, heart in mouth. Landing on broken roads as airstrips. The Australian pilot handing out sweets to the children for turning the light plane around for take off. Everyone smiling.

The beautiful polite Sumatran people.

I am beginning to worry, how will I find the boat? The pilot points to the Batavia anchored like a picture post card in an azure bay. Lo Kruet. TNI tents and motorbikes. Heavy military presence, without the Indonesian military there would be no refugee camp here. Still they make me nervous with AK 47s slung over shoulders as they ride around on motorbikes.

Suddenly Rick, the head of the Batavia rescue mission is riding towards me in a sparkling white tee shirt, with the Rolls Royce logo. The absurdity of this donor. I am so hot, all around mud, garbage, and clothing sticking out of concrete. Smelling decay. Then from rubber duckie to the icey air conditioning of this Hong Kong disco boat. Mirror balls, plastic flowers. Hired for this rescue by Rick and Jane using their own money. Young American college student volunteers, Indonesian Doctors and nurses, all grinning in rubber boots. I am sleeping on the upper deck di atas on a plastic mattress, I hang up some sarongs for privacy.

JULIE JANSON
Julie Janson began writing plays while living in Arnhemland in Indigenous communities. Her first major play Gunjies was produced at Belvoir St Theatre in 1993 and received an AWGIE nomination. Her play Lotus War was performed as part of the Belvoir St Asian Theatre Festival, at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and on ABC National radio in 1996.

Her trilogy of plays Season to Taste began at the Belvoir St Asian Theatre Festival and had seasons at the Darling Mills Restaurant and on ABC Radio. Her play Black Mary was produced by Company B Belvoir St Theatre for the festival of the Dreaming at the Olympic Arts Festival 1997. Black Mary was also performed at the Phoenix Theatre in Phoenix Arizona in 2000. Kera Putih, a children’s play has toured extensively in ACT and Victoria with Jigsaw Theatre Company.

Julie has been the Writer in Residence for Asialink in Indonesia and also Writer in Residence in Tasmania and Canberra. Julie also writes film scripts and has made two successful short films and has written feature film scripts funded by NSW Film and TV Office.

In 2005 Julie was a volunteer on a tsunami rescue boat in Aceh and Sumatra, she set up ten tent schools in devastated villages.

South Africa's SwellGuys on-line Feature Story

2006-11-11T23:23:00.000+07:00

As the 2nd aniversary of the Great Tsunami approaches, one of South Africas most inovative Surf E-Zines has run a full length feature story on Island Aid's work. The artistic effort that went into the feature story is extraordinary.... thanks guys!

....."Just mention the word tsunami and most people’s thoughts turn to Boxing Day 2004. On that day at 07:58:53 local time, an earthquake occurred with it’s epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia - the reading? 9.2 on the Richter scale....

The rest of the facts could easily be mistaken for a modern day Hollywood blockbuster. This was the second largest earthquake recorded on a seismograph ever. I’m sure I don’t have to paint any sort of picture but turn your thoughts to the people of Indonesia, particularly those in Sumatra who were in the direct path of the tsunami. The media made sure the news was received worldwide.

Tragedy is big news and this event received it’s fair share of coverage. Don’t get me wrong, the media has a role to play and in between all the negativity they sensationalise, there is still a lot of positive to be found. Without the intense coverage and as much graphic detail that seems to be the big selling point these days, there may very well have been much less assistance offered. So what exactly am I trying to say?

I’m trying to say that it’s two years later and the story is all but forgotten. As easy as it’s been for the rest of us to move on with our lives, there are those individuals who have found it as easy to dedicate their lives to helping the people of Indonesia put the pieces of their lives back together"...... more at http://www.swellguys.co.za/vol01/issue06/articles/island-aid.html

New York Concert for Island Aid

2006-10-13T08:46:00.000+07:00

PRESS RELEASE FOR DISTRIBUTION

Please join us at
CONCERT FOR ISLAND AID
Presented by Paul’s Imports
A Benefit for Ongoing Tsunami Relief
www.island-aid.org
featuring:

VLADA TOMOVA & BALKAN TALES
GAMELAN DHARMA SWARA
KAREN ZASLOFF SHADOW PUPPET THEATRE
ALIZA WEINMAN, MD., MPH

Friday Nov. 10th 2006 7PM-10:30PM

Patrons Reception: 6:30-7:30PM
THE SANCTUARY
Broadway Presbyterian Church
114th and Broadway
New York, NY

Tickets (thru Ticketweb www.ticketweb.com):

Advanced. Gen. Adm.: $12
Adv. Concert + VIP Reception: $25
Adv. Reserve-A-Pew: Group of 8 Tickets: $120
Adv. Reserve-a-Pew + VIP Reception (8 tickets): $224
Walkup at the door: $15 (suggested donation: $20)

On December 26, 2004 Indonesia was rocked by one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history. The tsunami that followed is still having devastating effects on the region. ISLAND AID ORGANIZATION (then called Electric Lamb Mission, after their home built sailboat—the first relief vessel to reach Aceh), with few resources, but abundant inventiveness and determination, managed to be one of the first relief organizations to travel to the hardest hit areas including remote mountain villages, and to the conflict-laden Aceh province.

Since the coastal roads were wiped out by the tsunami, many of the better established NGOs were stuck in the devastated urban areas while the Island Aid ship was able to access remote coastal areas by sea, thus bringing more expedient relief to thousands of stranded and desperate people.

In the first six months of operation alone, IAO distributed over 650 tons of emergency supplies, facilitated the treatment of more than 7,700 patients, received US $475,000 in donations, and deployed over 180 volunteers. IAO has continued to offer support by desalinating wells, restoring fishing vessels, rebuilding schools, rejuvenating crops, and continuing essential medical aid in the areas still recovering two years later. Currently, they are preparing to launch a flying doctor service in partnership with Troppodoc's Dr Derek Allen.

Troppodoc's Dr Derek Allen is both a helicopter pilot and surgeon.

IAOs ongoing efforts have been documented in the 2006 Webby Award Winning website NOT SEEN NOT HEARD – A Document of Indonesian Recovery and Sustainability.

CONCERT FOR ISLAND AID will feature a full concert by hypnotic, multilingual Bulgarian vocalist VLADA TOMOVA and her ensemble BALKAN TALES and a presentation and dialogue with Island Aid Organization front-line volunteer and Emergency Medicine doctor ALIZA WEINMAN, MD, MPH, whose persistence and desire to simply help during the crisis took her from Morningside Heights through the red tape of international relief organizations and overwhelmed NGO's to the most devastated regions of western Sumatra.

VLADA TOMOVA, who has been described as a "Bulgarian vocal sorceress" is a world caliber, multilingual singer and vocalist. Her magnetic stage presence and "phenomenal acrobatic vocalizations" (The Boston Globe), have graced Central Park's Summer Stage, Joe's Pub, Symphony Space, the European Dream Festival, the 2006 Montreal International Jazz Festival, and Toronto's Small World Festival.

She is the leader of New York’s Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Yasna Voices and her work with Balkan Beat Box has received international acclaim. Tomova's international music ensemble, BALKAN TALES churn traditional, old world Bulgarian songs into a passionate array of music, language, cultural textures and moods--ranging from fado to raga--blending fiery vocals, mournful taqasims, driving percussion, and complex harmonies. On Thurs. Nov 9 (a day before the concert) Vlada is slated to be a featured guest on WNYC's venerable daytime music-talk show, SOUNDCHECK hosted by John Schaefer, where she will promote the concert as well as the cause.

GAMELAN DHARMA SWARA is a group of over thirty dancers and musicians studying and performing traditional and new works for Balinese gamelan throughout the tristate area and around the Northeast. They are a member of Arts Indonesia, a not-for-profit organization, and operate under the generous support of the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia. For Concert For Island Aid, Dharma Swara’s Indah Handoko, Ketut Mariyati Dawkins, and Ketut Gde Arthana will be performing.Sekar Jagat ("Flower of the World", a welcoming dance) and Kebyar Duduk (“sitting kebyar”).

ALIZA WEINMAN, MD, MPH, Island Aid's New York representative and international volunteer, is a New York-based Emergency Medicine physician who trained at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center. When the earthquake that rocked South East Asia sent a massive tsunami across the region, Aliza dropped everything and sought to volunteer on the front lines of devastation. After sending out hundreds of emails and applications to the overwhelmed NGOs, her persistence finally paid off when she came across a Newsweek article that mentioned a small grass-roots organization based in Sumatra named the Electric Lamb Mission (now called Island Aid Organization).

A few emails and phone calls later, Aliza was on a plane headed halfway around the world for Sumatra. The very night she arrived, Island Aid’s chartered 800 ton relief ship set sail for Aceh province.

CONCERT FOR ISLAND AID will take place in the beautiful, acoustically excellent SANCTUARY of the Broadway Presbyterian Church at 114th and Broadway in the heart of New York’s Morningside Heights neighborhood. This diverse area of Manhattan features many cultures, shops, restaurants, a major university (Columbia) with students and faculty from all over the world, and no less than 5 youth hostels/travelers hotels.

For information, to volunteer, or to contribute, please contact:

Paul Assimacopoulos
Paul's Imports Presents
cell 917-526-6862
paul@paulsimports.net

Dr.Aliza Weinman
Island Aid Organization
alizaweinman@gmail.com

Event links:

Island Aid Organization www.island-aid.org
Vlada Tomova www.vladatomova.com
Gamelan Dharma Swara www.dharmaswara.org
Paul’s Imports www.paulsimports.net
Not Seen Not Heard www.notseennotheard.com
Ticketweb www.ticketweb.com

2nd Operation Date Set

2006-10-07T12:51:00.000+07:00

Dr Derek has confirmed that the girls will have their next operation on the 28th of November.

They are healing very well and are very happy. The staff at Rumah Sakit Harapan are fantastic and they have arranged temporary accommodation for Sotarian's father who is acting as guardian.

The two moderate quakes that stuck the West coast of Nias yesterday and this morning have not cause a tsunami nor have there been any reports of injuries. Dr Fasa said that the quakes were strong but that there is no damage reported in Gomo.
Clearly we are in for a long period of seismic adjustment in this area. Our focus remains on preparing for the worst in our part of the central coast.

Troppodoc's helicopter is at last cleared through Indonesian customs and Dr Derek arrived Friday by truck from Medan. The engineers will arrive on the 18th to assemble the R22 and test all systems. We are working on license and permit issues needed to start our Island Flying Doctor service.

Soterian and Eniwati Skin Grafts Start Friday

2006-09-13T15:01:00.000+07:00

Dr Derek Allen checked the girls into P.Sinantar's Rumah Sakit Harapan (Hope Hospital) on the 4th of September and they are amongst the first patients scheduled for operations. A team of Dutch doctors and surgeons will be in the town for one month and so the girls will be able to have several operations each if all goes well.

While we were in the process of fund raising for surgery in Hawaii, Dr Allen (www.troppodoc.com) chanced into information that led him to the opportunity for free skin graft operations in North Sumatra and we have been able to accelerate the treatment schedule by months.

Thanks to all involved for your support to date. It is too early to know what treatment will cost for the 3 months we expect the girls to be in the hospital and the rehabilitation center. That should be clear after the doctors finish their first operations. The hospital charges for medicine and services will be Rp10,000,000 each and we are waiting for details of other costs.

Special thanks to I.A. volunteers Zach Shields and Chris Podell for their extraordinary contribution to the fund raising via their Webby Award winning website http://www.notseennotheard.com ......Along with other University Volunteer members, they helped raise $2,700 towards the skin graft operations and associated costs.

North West Medical / Island Aid volunteer Lisa Friesen has also worked hard for months to explore options for the girls in US hospitals and her family donations have given us a head start raising money for Dr Fasa's laptop.

Finally our thanks also to www.fundable.org for their donation service. We can recommend it for any fund raising event or project as a reliable, fast and inexpensive way to pool donations or contributions on-line.

We will soon be posting an new fund raiser for the purchase of a wi-fi laptop for Dr Fasa Laia in Gomo. The UN have set up a free internet hotspot at the local town administrators office only about 700m from his clinic.

Troppodoc & Island Aid Support Emergency Operation

2006-08-11T10:59:00.000+07:00

Troppodoc and Island Aid have completed their first joint mission.... to save 10 year old Mardiana's life buy funding a time critical operation to remove a huge abdominal tumor that was compressing her heart and lungs.

Mardiana has been in pain and great discomfort for the past 6 months. A tumor developed in her left ovary and started to fill her abdominal cavity. It became so large that she could not eat properly and her breathing was becoming very restricted.

The tumor was pushing up and pressing on her lungs. Her heart was working overtime to get blood to her lower abdomen and legs with enlarged veins visible under the skin on her thorax. Mardiana did not have long to live and her family were far to poor to afford the operation that was her only chance of survival.

Her family are from Nias, forced to move by the extreme poverty of their home town and they now occupy a hovel near Island Aid's Padang headquarters.

Our staff heard about her problem and asked her mother to bring her to meet Dr Derek Allen during his visit to Padang. After reviewing her x-rays and consulting with the local hospital doctors, the path was very clear to all of us. Mardiana needed help urgently so Dr Derek and Bron McBain committed to raising the funds needed. Island Aid agreed to share the costs and to sign for the hospital bills.

Rp 9,000,000 and a week later, Mardiana was back home and smiling for the first time in many months. The tumor is not malignant but Mardiana will be monitored for several months to ensure that there is no relapse. She is receiving food and vitamin supplements from Island Aid and as soon as she is strong enough, she will start swimming lessons in our pool to help her rebuild her lower body strength.

Technorati Profile

Nine year old Australian surfer survives tsunami in Java

2006-07-25T10:59:00.000+07:00

K38 Rescue Files courtesy of Surfers Village News
Dedicated to Safety and Rescue on Waves and Beach
K38 Rescue

Nine year old Australian surfer survives tsunami in Java

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 24 July, 2006 : - - When the tsunami hit, nine-year-old Australian Dylan Ansori was surfing with his mates. The six-metre waves came without warning and in a rapid succession - like a "stampede of buffalos", by the terrifying account of his mother, Mary.

In seconds, Dylan was thrashed by the waves onto the beach on Java's south coast, but incredibly managed to hang on to metal railings on the beachfront. Once the water subsided, he climbed a cliff behind the beach, with dozens of other survivors.

For the next three hours, his mother did not know whether Dylan was dead or alive. She and her eight-month-old baby were forced to higher ground near the sleepy fishing village of Batu Keras, about 30 kilometres west of the surfing and fishing resort town of Pangandaran, also devastated by the tsunami.

"Luckily, he had some older boys with him looking out for him," Ms Gilleece said. Many were not so lucky. By last night, the official death toll was 337 from the tsunami, triggered when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked the sea floor late on Sunday.

No official warning was issued - a tragic omission, in spite of earnest promises that an international warning system would be put in place quickly after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that devastated nearby Sumatra and parts of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people, including 170,000 in Indonesia. Indonesian officials explained that a country-wide early warning system would not be in place until 2009.

Grahame Malligan, a former Sydneysider, picked through the rubble of his Bay Surf shop in Batu Keras yesterday. "We all felt the quake, but the first we knew of the tsunami was a roar. When we looked up we saw fishing boats sort of jumping in the air out in the bay."

He had been with his friends, Andrew Warmbrunn, from Melbourne, and Lyal Mackintosh, a board supplier formerly of Darwin. Mr Malligan said the three grabbed their wives and children and "headed for the hills".

Mr Warmbrunn said: "There were about six waves. The second was the biggest and the locals said it was as high as the point, I guess about four or five metres."

Mary Gilleece was also at Batu Keras. "I was just sitting on the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day. I decided to go back to my house with baby, and then a few minutes later everyone was running, shouting, 'Big storm, big storm!' At first I thought it was a stampede of buffaloes," she said.

Ms Gilleece said she jumped in her car with her baby and tried to head back to the Lego Pari beach, where Dylan was surfing with friends. "But I couldn't get back to Lego Pari because it was flooded, and the road was blocked by debris," she said.

Instead, she was forced to drive to higher ground. Three hours later someone gave him a lift on a motorbike to the main town of Cijulang, where he was reunited with his mother.

Ms Gilleece, who has worked for 12 years as an English teacher in Bandung, West Java, spent Monday night staying in a villager's house above the beach. "Everyone was really panicking, saying this will be like Aceh."

It was not until yesterday morning that she could see her husband, Sofyan, who had almost drowned in the tsunami waves at Pangandaran. "I was sitting in the Bamboo cafe and then all of a sudden, we were swamped by water, and I almost drowned," he said. "I was hit by rocks."

He managed to climb onto the roof of the cafe, but from there could see children being swept away by the waves.

Wayne Proctor, a 46-year-old maths teacher at the Australian International School in Jakarta, said he and his wife were walking along a footpath in Pangandaran when they heard "this roar like a waterfall".

"Had we been inside the hotel, I'm sure we would have been dead because the waters that swept into our room were at least six feet [two metres] high."

Lyall Mackintosh, 60, said some French and an Australian surfers had been preparing to enter the water when the tsunami appeared on the horizon. "They all got the shock of their lives," he said.

Deadly Java Tsunami Caused by Slow-Moving Quake

2006-07-19T09:22:00.000+07:00

Richard A. Lovett
for National Geographic News
July 18, 2006

A large 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck offshore of the Indonesian island of Java (map of Indonesia) yesterday, killing more than 300 people and forcing thousands of others to flee.

The temblor struck at 3:19 p.m. local time, when many people were on the beach. It generated a tsunami reported to have produced waves from 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 meters)* high.

The waves were much smaller than the monster swells of the tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004, which left more than 200,000 dead across several Indian Ocean countries including Indonesia (Southeast Asia tsunami full coverage).

Puji Pujiono is the regional disaster response advisor for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"Rows of houses along the coast were swept away, [but] the waves did not go far inland," Pujiono told South Africa's Business Day news service.

"There was damage, not devastation."

Many Java residents recognized the danger and fled before the waves struck.

Nonetheless, the initially low casualty figures have steadily mounted into the hundreds.

Indonesia's tsunami warning system is still under development and is not scheduled to be operational on Java until 2007.

Comparing Quakes

The earthquake that created yesterday's tsunami bears similarities to the mammoth 9.3 magnitude temblor that sparked the 2004 disaster, experts say.

The primary similarity is that both quakes were caused by the collision of tectonic plates offshore of Indonesia.

At the site of yesterday's quake, the Australian plate is subducting, or being thrust beneath, Indonesia's Sunda plate at a rate of 2.3 inches (59 millimeters) a year, the U.S. Geological Survey reports on its Earthquake Hazards Program Web site.

The 2004 quake was caused by a similar collision between the Indian Ocean plate and the Sunda plate near the island of Sumatra.

But there are substantial differences between the two events, says Emile Okal, a geophysics professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

First of all, yesterday's earthquake was much smaller, which means it didn't do much to relieve the area's tectonic strain.

"It's not something that will set the area free [of quakes] for the next hundred years or so," Okal told National Geographic News.

Nor, he said, is the recent quake directly linked to the 2004 event.

That's because the 2004 temblor, he says, involved the movement of a plate attached to India.

"In this case we're talking about Australia. It's not exactly the same block." Furthermore, the plates collide at different angles at Sumatra than they do at Java.

"So yes, it's the same country" experiencing the quakes, Okal said. "But it doesn't mean that the conditions are a carbon copy."

Slow Zipper

Yesterday's Java earthquake, Okal said, is of a rare type known as a "tsunami earthquake."

That's not simply an earthquake that generates a tsunami. It's one that produces a surprisingly large tsunami for its magnitude.

Such earthquakes, Okal says, are characterized by relatively slow propagation of the earthquake along the fault.

Traditionally, the energy released during an earthquake moves along the fault at speeds of about two miles (three to three and a half kilometers) a second, like the steady opening of a giant zipper.

But in tsunami earthquakes, the ground unzips at half-speed or even slower.

This causes the Earth to shake slowly, producing relatively little damage to buildings but causing the sea to slosh more heavily, producing tsunamis.

The slow, low-frequency vibrations also fool seismologists into underreporting the temblor's initial magnitude, because the scientists are looking for conventional, fast-paced vibrations.

In this case, initial reports said that yesterday's 7.7 magnitude quake had a 7.2 magnitude. It might seem like a small difference, but it's a major distinction on the magnitude scale. For example, a magnitude 8 quake is ten times stronger than a magnitude 7.

Also, Okal notes, a similar quake struck the region in 1994 about 250 miles (400 kilometers) away from yesterday's event.

"That's geologically interesting," he said, "because we can legitimately ask whether there are areas that are prone to these slow earthquakes. The tentative answer, since yesterday, would be, Perhaps."

* Note the tsunamis were inititally reported to be only 2m in height.

7.2 Indian Ocean Quake Generates 6ft Tsunami

2006-07-17T18:07:00.000+07:00

A powerfull 7.2 quake in the Indian Ocean shook Java today for over 2 minutes. Shortly after a 6ft tsunami smashed into Pangandaran on the central south coast sending boats and debris up to 500m inland according to first accounts. So far 3 people are reported dead as head high water destroyed beach side houses and small hotels in the resort town.

Other small towns on the south coast are thought to have been hit by the tsunami but reports have not been received at time of writing. The central south coast is heavily populated and many ports are located near river mouths on low lying or reclaimed land.

A 6.1 after shock struck 2 hours later and people are being evacutate from low beach front areas. Many people ran to high ground after the quake avoiding the wall of water by minutes.

Tsunami Ark Prototype Takes Shape

2006-07-14T08:37:00.000+07:00

It may seem strange to be building based on the "tsunami ark" concept at 1,500m above sea level but there are good reasons for chosing Air Hangat as our test site. Bamboo grows on the organic farm property and we have access to free labor under the direction of our site manager. Transport and accommodation costs are minimal and the building will be seen by the stream of visiting authorites who visit the farm to learn about organic methods.

We have the full support of the recently promoted Head of Agriculture for West Sumatra. Pak John started the organic farm and his hard work has been recognised by the Governor and national leaders. An organic farm program is under discussion for the Mentawai Islands as part of our disaster mitigation strategy for the area.

The site for the protoype is among jungle trees on a ridge above a bend in a deep bamboo lined gorge. The building will be used for meetings and training programs at the farm.

Bamboo trusses are stacked ready for errection. The roof will be installed before the floor to protect the coconut timber planks from exposure to the weather. Our construction costs are being recorded and many details and techniques are being tried for use in the final design for our 'Ark' at Air Manis.

FootNote:

Europe's leading surf magazine, 'The Surfers Path' has published an interview "Turning the Tide" written by IA volunteer Mike Frood. The content is very similar to the Electric Lamb story and focuses on the history of our involvement in Sumatra and our work in Aceh and Nias.

NATURE.COM ON THE QUAKE

2006-06-02T20:14:00.000+07:00

Another tragedy strikes Indonesia

On 27 May an earthquake struck Java, Indonesia, about 25 kilometres south-southwest of the city of Yogyakarta, claiming more than 5,000 lives. News@nature.com takes a look at the situation. Philip Ball

How big was the quake?

The US Geological Survey has characterized this as a magnitude 6.3 event. That's strong, but not huge; in fact, earthquakes of this size typically happen somewhere in the world every two or three days.

Is it the quake size that determines how bad things get?

The amount of energy released by a quake is important, but the casualties in this case may be disproportionate to the quake's size. "I'm surprised there was that much damage," says geologist James Jackson of the University of Oxford, UK.

The number of people injured and killed often tends to depend more on the nearby population density and on the quality of the buildings than on the quake magnitude. In wealthy countries such as the United States and Japan, earthquake-proofing of buildings and other civic structures tend to keep casualties low for medium-sized quakes such as this one. The most recent quake at Parkfield, California, in 2004 was magnitude 6.0 but killed no one. In contrast, the magnitude-6.6 quake in Bam, Iran, in 2003 caused more than 40,000 deaths, partly because of poor building techniques.

Local geology can also make a difference. At Bam, the destruction was compounded by the city's fatal location, right at the end of the fault, where much of the seismic energy was focused. And at Northridge in California in 1994, damage caused by a magnitude-6.7 quake was exacerbated by sandy soil, which was rendered fluid (liquefaction) by the ground shaking. That was the costliest earthquake in US history, but only 51 people died.

Is this the same fault line as the one that triggered the tsunami?

No, but they're loosely related. The Indian Ocean near the east coast of Indonesia is a patchwork of three major tectonic plates: the Sunda plate to the east, the India plate to the northwest, and the Australia plate to the southwest. The tsunami was caused by a rupture at the convergence of the India plate and the Burma microplate. The Java quake last weekend happened further south, where the Australia plate dips northeastwards beneath the Sunda plate (and thus beneath Java) in a process known as subduction.

Earthquakes are often triggered at subduction zones by slippage of the sinking lower plate. But the Yogyakarta quake was caused by a secondary effect of subduction. The compression of the two plates as they move together put pressure on small, shallow faults behind the actual line of subduction. It was the sideways rupture of one of these that caused the quake. The same process was responsible for the devastating quake in Kobe, Japan, in 1995.

What effect will the quake have on the nearby Merapi volcano, which has been murmuring this past month?

The two are related: the volcanic activity at Merapi, about 80 kilometres to the north of the earthquake focus, is also due to the subduction process. Melting of rock above a subducting plate produces magma that rises up to the surface, which is why there are commonly volcanic islands behind subduction zones.

Some earthquakes have been triggered by magmatic processes linked to volcanic eruptions nearby. Such a link seems unlikely on Java. But the quake itself could affect the volcano. Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, UK, says that there has been a slight increase in Merapi's activity since Saturday. "A lot of shaking could destabilize the lava dome," he says (see 'Indonesian volcano poses unpredictable threat'). It is not clear whether the quake could also affect the deeper magma plumbing system of the volcano.

Andrew Jeremijenko, a doctor who has been working with victims of the quake, says that there was another eruption from Merapi on Monday morning. He fears that a really large one could create many casualties, putting further strain on the relief effort.

Was an event like this expected?

It certainly wasn't surprising. "The whole of Java is seismically active," says Baptie, because it sits over a subduction zone. "There's an earthquake of this size every five years or so in the region." Jackson adds that shallow-fault quakes "aren't uncommon". But Yogyakarta itself has never experienced anything as catastrophic as this before, and seems to have been unprepared for it.

What is the biggest challenge faced by the local people now?

"It's as bad as you see on television," says Dr Jeremijenko. "It's basically a disaster zone." He says there are people with multiple injuries, many needing amputations, and "people are dying who probably shouldn't die." There is a shortage of nurses and equipment, and to make matters worse, it has been raining quite a lot, with many casualties protected only by tents because of a lack of hospital beds. Jeremijenko fears that it is probably only a matter of time before there are epidemic outbreaks of tetanus and possibly cholera, measles and other infectious diseases.

DONATE NOW

1. On-line Credit Card or Pay Pal donations follow this link: https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/earthquakefamilykits/groupaction_view

2. Wire Transfer direct to IDEP in Bali

Bank Name: BNI
Account Name: Yayasan IDEP
Branch: Ubud
Address: Jl Raya Ubud,Bali 80571
Swift Code: BNINIDJADPS
Account No: 0049400253 (Rupiah Donations)
Account No: 0049400264 (US$ Donations)
Please indicate name/organization on your funds transfer.

Yogya Earthquake - Island Aid to Support Sam Schultz's IDEP Team

2006-06-02T19:15:00.000+07:00

On Saturday the 27th of May at 5:55 am an Earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Central Java with the epicenter 20km south of the city of Yogyakarta (also spelt Jogyakarta). The earthquake lasted for over 57 seconds with a second smaller earthquake occurring at 10.15 am.

It appears that Bantul area south of Yogyakarta bore the brunt of the damage with almost all buildings being flattened and deaths numbering in the hundreds also Klaten has been badly affected. In Yogyakarta the quake caused serious structural damage to many of the cities buildings.

The current death toll is close to 5,800 and expected to rise, injured 25-30,000, and countless bodies still buried in the rubble. Over 200,000 people are currently displaced, many of whom lost everything when their houses collapsed. There are unconfirmed reports that more than 47,000 homes are completely destroyed and more than 55,000 are damaged and unsafe in the wake of the quake and aftershocks.

Island Aid's Bali based field partners, IDEP*, have received reports of many people not having eaten since the quake struck. Stockpiles of food, medicines and shelter prepared for the impending volcanic eruption of Mount Merapi, which is in the same area, are being exhausted.

Island Aid will support IDEP team's response to the crisis.

On the 29th of May IDEP sent a team of 6 volunteers, with a truck full of medicine and emergency relief supplies, to the affected area. A second larger truck departed on the 1st of June. Volunteers will assist with search and rescue, deliver much needed emergency supplies
and offer assistance to the local teams that are already on the ground – who have been working around the clock since the disaster struck.

First priority is to secure funds for the purchasing of Family Aid Buckets. These buckets contain a wide assortment of food, utensils, water, simple medications, a tarp, candles and a well researched list of items we know from our Aceh experience will be greatly appreciate as families try to re-establish themselves amid the rubble.

Each Family Aid Bucket costs about $60 to prepare. We are aiming to raise funds for 100 of these buckets as a first step. If we complete that goal we will try for 500 Family Aid Buckets in our next appeal.

Please pass on the URL of this page to your friends and associates. DONATE NOW

https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/earthquakefamilykits/groupaction_view

*IDEP are a grass roots organization born out of the chaos of the first Bali bombing. Island Aid worked closely with IDEP's Sam Schultz during the emergency relief operations following the Great Tsunami. The two organizations together channeled more than $1,600,000 in aid to support isolated communities in the area last year.

Your support is needed now in Java as the vast scale of this disaster grows more apparent with each passing day.

JAVA QUAKE

2006-05-30T15:05:00.000+07:00

Lisa,

We are all safe in Padang and monitoring the situation in southern central Java.

It seems that the serious quake damage is limited to an area within about 30km of the epicenter but population density is very high. Major agencies have good road, rail and air access to the disaster area and medical supplies are being reported as adequate. The rising death toll is a serious concern an it indicates that there are many more injured than first thought.

I'm in touch with other NGOs who are based close to the area and at this point we think we should focus on disaster readiness in our area rather than try to raise funds or mobilize volunteers for central Java.

We will continue to gather information and to evaluate the situation. The extent of the damage and the death toll seems massive for a 6.3 quake and this is indeed sobering for us living in Padang.

On Sunday we started construction of a simple structure that will serve as a tsunami ark prototype. We are training a team of builders who are skilled in the use of bamboo and we will adapt construction details use overseas to better suit local materials. After we complete this training center building, we will have a detailed understanding of the cost of building the tsunami arks.

We have chosen this location because the area has vast bamboo resources with the highest strength species predominating. Elevation is over 1,500m and this produces the best quality bamboo for construction. The cost of giant bamboo breaks down to about one third to the grower, one third to the harvester and one third for transport. In the location we have selected the bamboo is growing on the farm and so we are only paying for the cutting and trimming allowing us to do a lot more with donor funds.

The organic farm is situated at Air Angat high on the slopes of Merapi volcano (the Sumatran Merapi) where we are working with the Provincial Government on establishing a training center for organic farming technology. The plan is to establish pilot farms in the Mentawai Islands so that the local population can become more self sufficient in vegetable and fruit production. Almost all fresh fruit and vegetables consumed in the Islands are grown on the mainland and recent fuel price hikes have caused prices of fresh produce to almost double in the last few months.

The farm is only 4 km from Merapi's crater.

We also discussed evacuation strategies for the community around the organic training center in case Merapi becomes more active. This has not occurred but the volcano has erupted destructively several times in the past century.

Past eruptions have been directed towards the North and East and have not caused loss of life in the vicinity of the training center.

Community meeting at the training center

Indonesia's highest volcano, Kerinci, went to level 2 alert last month and we have had reports over the past few days of a series of ash eruptions. Kerinci is only 80miles south east of Padang and obviously we are wondering if the increase in seismic activity in Java foreshadows the same for our area.

Kerinci - Indonesia's tallest volcano at 3,800m

On 29 May, 2006, at 5:44 PM, ltfriesen@aol.com wrote:

Rick, are you OK-were you in Jakarta at the time of the earthquake? lisa

6.8 QUAKE OFF BATU ISLANDS

2006-05-16T23:47:00.000+07:00

Padang is nervous after a strong shake tonight. This most recent quake did not generate a tsunami in Padang and there was no damage in our area.

Magnitude: 6.8 (Strong)
Date-Time: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 10:28:24 PM = local time at epicenter
Location: 0.074°N, 97.012°E
Depth: 1.9 km (1.2 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
Distances:
270 km (165 miles) SW of Sibolga, Sumatra, Indonesia
390 km (240 miles) WNW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
620 km (385 miles) WSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
1275 km (790 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

ELECTRIC LAMB STORY

2006-05-15T17:50:00.000+07:00

Bali's top surf magazine, Surf Time has published Mike Frood's interview. The magazine displays an introduction to the story but there is a full length unabridged version on line at The Electric Lamb Story blog. We are scanning the magazine and will post a link to the full version.

Not Seen Not Heard Wins Webby Award

2006-05-10T15:58:00.000+07:00

NotSeenNotHeard has been awarded the coveted Webby People's Choice award in the 10th Annual Webby contest. This year the Webby's attracted a record number of applicants and Zach and Chris's beautiful work dominated the highly competitive 'Student' category.

"The Online Oscars" - Time Magazine

While other categories sport winners that read like the whos-who of the www, the student category gives low budget non-commercial websites a chance to show new talent. Zach and Chris will be rubbing shoulders with the creators of web superstar sites like Google Maps, National Geographic, MySpace, CondeNet & Flickr at the gala presentation night in NY.

Congratulations Zach and Chris!

I know how hard you worked and I know you were motivated by the thought of helping the tsunami and quake victims and not by any idea that your work would be recognized like this. You deserve this award in every way and it is doubly gratifying that your efforts have already raised over $2,000 towards skin grafts for the girls in Gomo.

For those who have not hear yet, Zach and Chris have published a special site for that purpose.

Visit:
http://gomogirlsfund.com

Donors can track the girls progress at our new dedicated site: http://groups.mac.com/gomogirlsfund
(site requires free registration at .Mac and is password protected)

NotSeenNotHeard Leading in Webby Award Voting!

2006-04-13T07:12:00.000+07:00

Zach and Chris's website http://www.notseennotheard.com is currently leading in the 'Student' category of the annual Webby Awards!

You can register and vote online at:

http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com/login.mhtml

Look in the 'Connections' category at the top of the menu page and select 'Student'

Consider leaving a comment.

The guys have done an awesome job and they deserve the recognition that winning will bring.
In the next few days they will add a page to the site for the Gomo girls and I will post a fundable.org page to pool funds for each step of the treatment saga.

Many thanks to Lisa for her tireless efforts and for helping with Dr Laia's sat phone problem.
By the middle of next month he should be on-line at his clinic. Things move slowly in Nias but we are making progress and all of us involved know that the girls are going to get their skin graft treatment and be able to start living normal lives again.

Rick

Scroll down for Zach's press release: Feel free to pass it on to
anyone who might be able to take the time to vote.

From Zach today.

To all:

I have recently come across good news. Not Seen Not Heard, an online
documentary on Indonesian recovery and sustainability, the project
Christopher Podell and I (Zachary Shields) produced this past
December has been nominated for a Webby Award for the best student
web site. Below is a press release about the competition and our site
( www.notseennotheard.com). If you get a few free minutes Chris and I
would both appreciate your vote for the People's Voice Award. You can
register to vote at http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com/.

After you register to vote you will receive your password in your
email. Return to the people's voice site and login. Then look in
the 'Connections' category where you will find the 'Student'
section. Once inside you can vote for Not Seen Not Heard.

Thank you for your support.
Zachary N Shields

NOT SEEN NOT HEARD NOMINATED FOR BEST STUDENT WEB SITE
FOR THE TENTH ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS

Not Seen Not Heard on the Shortlist for Top International Honor for
Web Sites

Indianapolis, Indiana - April 11, 2006 - The Webby Awards, the
leading international honor for Web sites, today nominated Not Seen
Not Heard for the Best Student Web site of 2006. The site is
produced by Christopher Podell ( www.chrispodell.com) and Zachary
Shields (www.cantaloupeshows.com). Winners will be announced on May
9, 2006 and honored at The Tenth Annual Webby Awards in New York City
on June 12th.

Hailed as the "Online Oscars" by Time Magazine, The Webby Awards are
determined by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a
global organization with a membership that includes musician David
Bowie, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, The
Body Shop president Anita Roddick, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening,
Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, and fashion designer Max Azria.

"The Webby Awards honors the outstanding web sites that are setting
the standards for the internet," said Tiffany Shlain, founder and
ambassador of The Webby Awards. "Not Seen Not Heard's Webby Award
nomination is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its
creators."

As a nominee for a Webby Award, Not Seen Not Heard is also eligible
to win a People's Voice Award. Voting is open to the public from
April 11th to May 5th at http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com

The Tenth Annual Webby Awards received a record number of entries
from over 40 countries and all 50 states.

Founded in 1996, The Webby Awards are known worldwide for its famous
five-words-or-less acceptance speeches.

About Not Seen Not Heard
Not Seen Not Heard was conceived and produced over a five month
period during the summer and fall of 2005. Zachary Shields traveled
to Indonesia in July 2005 to obtain information and video footage of
the earthquake and tsunami devastated islands while Christopher
Podell began developing design and interface plans for a capstone
project at the end of their Senior year at Indiana University (IUPUI
Campus). Our hope at the least is to provide a voice for those still
in need on the most remote islands of Indonesia nearly a year after
the devastation. We would like to lend these stories to any
humanitarian organizations in order to raise awareness and possible
funding so that rehabilitation programs can continue. Even after the
media blitz of a natural disaster such as the Dec. 2004 and March
2005 earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis are over, there is still a
struggle to provide a standard for living in countless communities.
We hope this will serve as an example of forgotten survivors, not
only of natural disasters, but of poverty, sickness and hunger all
around the world.

About The Webby Awards:
Called the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby
is the leading international award honoring excellence in Web design,
creativity, usability and functionality. Established in 1996, the
10th Annual Webby Awards received over 5,500 entries from all 50
states and over 40 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards are
presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: AOL; The Creative
Group; Verizon; Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek magazines; Fortune;
OnRequest Images; IDG; iStockphoto; American Marketing Association;
PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced Studios; MX Interactive and Museum
of the Moving Image. For more information visit www.webbyawards.com.

About the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS):
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated
to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the internet
and interactive media. The Academy is an intellectually diverse
organization that includes over 500 members consisting of leading
experts in a diverse range of fields, such as musician David Bowie,
Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, The Body Shop
president Anita Roddick, fashion designer Max Azria, "Simpsons"
creator Matt Groening and Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser. The Webby
Awards and The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are
registered trademarks of International Data Group. For more
information, visit www.iadas.net.

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Padang Rocked by Modest Quake

2006-04-10T10:58:00.000+07:00

No damage has been reported but this quake was closer to Padang than any of last years aftershocks and seems to signal a new release of tension in our section of the subduction zone.

The quake was characterized by vertical vibrations and strong jolts. The duration was about one minute. There was no tsunami generated.

Magnitude 5.2 (Moderate)
Date-Time Monday, April 10, 2006 at 9:36:37 AM = local time at epicenter
Location 0.652°S, 99.942°E
Depth 30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program
Region SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances 55 km (35 miles) NW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia

Mangroves are Not the Answer to Tsunamis

2006-04-06T17:45:00.000+07:00

Three surviving palms mark the location
of what was a substantial mangrove forest
on Pulau Raya.

We helped the population of Pulau Raya to deal with the loss of 115 out of a population of 350. Most were children who had gone to the school on that Sunday for some kind of event.

Tragically the school building was built behind the only remaining mangroves on the north coast of the island. Most mangroves had been cleared over the years for shrimp ponds. The majority of the residents saw the sea withdraw dramatically from the shore and they ran for high ground but the residents and kids in the vicinity of the school did not. The mangroves blocked their view of the ocean and they were almost all killed.

Tsunamis give some warning regardless of our attempts at electronic systems. The water drains out to sea. If people are aware they can run and many may reach high ground. If they can't see the ocean, those running from the sea can warn them. Island Aid reluctantly must agree that planting green belts along tsunami coastlines is a dangerous practice unless they are several km in width. Even in that case a large tsunami will just convert them into a wall of deadly debris.

The latest findings ARC support the idea that planting mangroves is not an blanket solution at all in the quest for strategies to mitigate tsunami damage.

Mangroves no defence v tsunamis
http://media.jcu.edu.au/story.cfm?id=565

Coastal mangroves and green belts offer little or no protection against the deadly might of a tsunami, according to a controversial new scientific report, just published in the international journal, "Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science".

Research from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) at James Cook University, the University of Guam (UoG), and the Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesia Programme (WCS-IP) has overturned claims that death rates were lower in villages shielded by mangroves during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The researchers' findings challenge current advice by the United Nations Environment Program, non-government organisations, and other scientists that 'green belts' and buffer zones should be incorporated into reconstruction efforts to protect villages from future tsunamis.

In fact, the ecologists warn, these green belts may give a false sense of security, leading to greater loss of life should such a tragedy recur in future.

When Dr Alex Kerr of UoG, Dr Andrew Baird of CoECRS and Dr Stuart Campbell of WCS-IP, reanalysed data from a recent Indian study, they found it was height above sea-level and distance from the shore that protected the inhabitants of some villages, rather than vegetation.

"Our re-analysis revealed that the distance of a village from the coast and the height of the village above sea level explained 87% of the variation in mortality among villages. Once these two variables were taken into account, vegetation area provides less than a 1% increase in explanatory power," says Dr Kerr.

"The apparent link between vegetation area and mortality was actually due to the fact that more vegetation grows at higher elevations above sea-level - and the greater the distance from the sea, the greater the area of vegetation.

"In short, if you had hamlets of equal elevation and distance from the sea, differences in vegetation area would make little difference to the death toll from a tsunami."

JCU's Dr Baird says the new analysis means there is genuine danger in overstating the protective capacity of vegetation in the event of another tsunami.

"Mangrove forests provide coastal communities with many valuable goods and services. However, expecting them to provide protection from tsunamis is unrealistic," he said.

"Following the Krakatoa eruption the resulting tsunamis penetrated eight kilometres through primary rainforest.

"Right now buffer zones are being enforced through a combination of government legislation, and a refusal of aid to people that wish to move back to their homes, in the belief they may provide protection from some future huge event. These buffer zones are only between 100 and 500 m, yet they may dispossess over a million people in India and Sri Lanka," Dr Baird said.

"It's a beautiful idea that green belts can stop a tsunami, and its aims are commendable. But it isn't true, and it won't work.

Logically, the safest course is to build farther from the sea or on higher ground. However, this cannot be considered in isolation from the social economic and emotional cost of shifting entire communities and their livelihoods, the researchers say.

"Tsunamis are catastrophic but, fortunately, they are rare - and a well-organised early-warning and evacuation plan may be far more effective in saving lives," Dr Baird said.

"Even if property is destroyed, this may still be preferable to the social dislocation and potential conflict involved in removing entire communities from their coastal existence."

Dr Baird adds that a further dimension of the problem is the fact that in many cases these buffer zones are being used by developers and local authorities as a pretext for moving communities, so they can then build tourist facilities on the vacated shoreline.

Photographs available at: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/greenbelts/imagegallery.html

Article: Kerr, A. M., Baird, A. H. & Campbell, S. J. 2006 Comment on Kathiresan & Rajendran, Coastal mangrove forests mitigated tsunami. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 67, 539-541.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies website: http://coralcoe.org.au

Coastal Engineering for Future Tsunamis

2006-04-06T13:51:00.000+07:00

Recent events have shown what kind of havoc waves can cause. We may never calm the seas, but advances in coastal engineering could reduce their damage.

By Dale Keiger
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
John Hopkins Magazine
http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/0406web/force.html

When Robert Anthony Dalrymple watches the surf, he sees the approaching swell, the foaming curl, the cascade of water, the sea sliding up the beach toward his feet. He's no less mesmerized than the rest of us. But where most people look at plunging surf and see chaos, he sees structure, eddies and vortices, wave forms and fluid mechanics. "I see things I can predict," he says, "and things I can't predict." He smiles and adds, "I can be very boring at the beach. My wife doesn't enjoy going with me anymore. She makes me go to the mountains now on vacation."

Tony Dalrymple is a wave guy. A professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in Johns Hopkins' Whiting School, he works as a coastal engineer, trying to better predict the behavior of the shoreline during short-term events like a hurricane, and over longer durations, like the next century of human development. His contributions to the field resulted in his election last February to the National Academy of Engineering. As a scientist, he analyzes and models waves. As an engineer, he studies the human implications of all that moving water.

The seriousness of those implications has become obvious during the first years of the 21st century. Massive hurricanes have pummeled the southeastern United States, and "pummeled" doesn't begin to describe what Katrina did to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast last year. The day after Christmas 2004, the seabed of the Indian Ocean heaved and generated a tsunami that killed more than 283,000 people. In the years ahead there likely will be more storms, more floods, more changes to coastlines, more work for Dalrymple and his colleagues around the world. As the planet warms and sea levels rise and storms become more severe, he anticipates no shortage of work.

He laughs when called a civil engineering action figure, but he is part of a response team assembled by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to fly into disaster areas and assess what happened. He surveyed Thailand after the tsunami, and was in Louisiana after Katrina. By going in four or five weeks after a debacle, the engineers avoid hindering search-and-rescue operations, but arrive in time to gather evidence of what happened, where civil engineering succeeded, and where it failed.

Mostly, Dalrymple looks for the unexpected on the monitor of a computer running simulations based on his models. But in January 2005, he went into the field to investigate an event for which good models, and therefore useful predictions, are problematic.

For centuries, a massive portion of the Earth's crust, the India tectonic plate, had been sliding toward the north-northwest under the Indian Ocean at a rate of about 2.5 inches per year. It was trying to subduct, or dive under, what scientists call the Burma microplate. But tectonic plates are not on bearings and they're not greased. They snag on each other. In this case, the India plate was snagged on and bending the Burma plate, forcing down its leading western edge and tilting up its eastern edge, building immense potential energy. The sea bottom was a huge cocked spring, and starting at 7:59 a.m. local time on December 26, 2004, the spring let go. Seismologists call what happened a mega-thrust event.

The first slippage was small, but then there occurred a sudden violent spasm as the India plate slid under the Burma plate, lurching 50 feet toward Indonesia. The front edge of the Burma plate heaved upwards more than 6 feet while its eastern section dropped, releasing even more energy. Along an underwater fault line, the subduction traveled like a giant zipper for 750 miles, the length of California. The mega-thrust event went on for 8 minutes, the most powerful temblor since the 1964 Alaska earthquake. But for hundreds of thousands of people, the event generated a deadlier number: It displaced 200 billion cubic meters of water. A tsunami.

Energy let loose by the earthquake sped east and west of the rupture at the speed of a jet airliner. In 30 minutes, massive waves traveled 300 miles and hit Banda Aceh, Indonesia, wiping out 90,000 people. Though the colloquial term for a tsunami is "tidal wave," the actual phenomenon is much more complex (and has nothing to do with tides). Four waves hit parts of Thailand. To the west, the main wave was so long it wrapped around the island of Sri Lanka before striking coastal areas of India. After barreling into Kenya and Somalia, waves bounced back and hit Thailand and Indonesia again. The whole Indian Ocean reverberated. Says Dalrymple, "Waves were just banging back and forth. It was like hitting a bell."

Before its energy was spent, the tsunami propagated into all the world's oceans. The National Geophysical Data Center recorded 302 run-ups — tsunami waves striking coastlines around the world. Wave energy, shunted and steered by underwater ridges, shot between Australia and Antarctica and headed east and north, eventually landing on the Canadian Pacific coast. Westward, waves wrapped around Africa, then split, with energy headed for North and South America. Twenty-one hours after the quake, tide monitors near Rio de Janeiro registered a 3-foot offshore swell. Eight hours after that, 1.5 feet of water came ashore at Nova Scotia. Six inches of tsunami lapped at Cornwall, England; 4 inches at Los Angeles; 9 inches at Atlantic City, New Jersey. No tsunami had reached so far since Krakatoa erupted in 1883. In the coastal areas that define the Indian Ocean, at least 283,100 people died — drowned or battered to death by floating debris.

Dalrymple shows a sheetpile wall that failed during Katrina, pointing out the difference in height between it and the concrete flood wall to the left. "Reasonable design says that the walls should all be at the same elevation," he says. A month later, Dalrymple and an ASCE team flew into Phuket, Thailand, one of the wrecked beach resorts, and for five days traveled to various devastated places along the Thai coast. As a coastal engineer, Dalrymple was surprised by how much the beaches had already recovered. Not the people or the houses or the businesses, but the sand.

Immediately after the waves, Thailand's western beaches were literally gone, sucked out and washed away. But in a single month the action of the surf had rebuilt them. How did that happen? "Interesting question," Dalrymple says. Sand is resilient, he notes, hard to destroy. In Thailand, he says, the tsunami carried some of the beach landward, but then dragged sand out of river beds as the waves receded. This sand was deposited offshore, then later moved to shore again by the surf. Dalrymple was startled by the speed with which these processes restored Thailand's beaches.

As an engineer, he was interested in how structures fared during the inundation, and if any protective measures had worked. Some buildings set on raised pilings survived; the sea surged through the pilings and left the structure intact. Seawalls in areas developed for tourism, like Phuket's Patong Beach, blunted the force of the water. They had been overtopped, for sure, but still mitigated damage to landward structures. At Patong, the engineers observed, the wall had wide openings, every block or so, to provide pedestrian access to the beach. Here, of course, the water simply poured through, scouring the beach around the openings when it retreated.

The shape of a wall changed its effectiveness. Concave barriers turned the water back on itself, providing additional protection. At the north end of the beach, the engineers found a wall that had not been so effective. This one, for some reason, had been built with a landward incline. During the tsunami, the water hit the incline and flew into the air as if off a ramp — straight into the second story of a beach house. The first story emerged relatively intact. The ASCE report notes, with just a touch of wryness, "The lesson here is that seawalls should not be sloped landward."

Wherever he went, Dalrymple found evidence of how big the waves had been. On his computer in his office, he calls up a photo included in the ASCE report. It shows a van parked under a lone tree on the sand, near water's edge at Khao Lak. An arrow superimposed on the image points to debris snagged by the tree, at least 25 feet above the ground. At Patong Beach, the engineers saw cars stacked atop each other or resting on structures.

As a modeler, Dalrymple was curious how well computer models of tsunami behavior matched reality. He calls the 2004 disaster the most recorded tsunami in history. Instrument stations all over the world collected data. For the first time, radar from satellites measured the amplitude and progress of the tsunami waves as they propagated. On the eyewitness level, dozens of tourists shot video of water slamming into Thailand and Indonesia. Within 24 hours, a remarkable amount of information about the disaster was available on the Internet, and scientists had an abundance of data. When they matched that data to models of tsunami behavior in deep water, Dalrymple says, the models proved accurate. But simulating a tsunami crashing into land or structures is far more complicated, and here the models, though better than expected, need a lot more refinement to be useful for anticipating structural damage and creating safeguards. Dalrymple is working on modeling the action of waves flowing through buildings — or lifting them from their foundations and carrying them off.

Protecting Against Future Tsunamis

After surveying areas of Thailand ravaged by the December 2004 tsunami, the American Society of Civil Engineers' response team made the following recommendations:
Keep sources of debris and cars away from the front of structures.
Sand dunes, especially vegetated dunes, can lessen the effects of tsunami run-up on inland development. So can properly built seawalls. These walls should be vertical or concave, with few or no low sections such as pedestrian openings.
Buildings in the hazard zone should be built on deep foundation piles. Those buildings should be designed to allow water to flow through.
Design of structures should take into account the erosive effects of tsunami waves receding. Water returning to the sea undermines structures and foundations.

"There are just so many interesting problems," Dalrymple says. The Department of Defense has just granted $5 million to a consortium of scientists, including him, to study what happens when waves come ashore over a muddy sea floor. Mud tends to dissipate wave energy. A better understanding of how that works might allow defense analysts, using satellite images of waves, to determine the composition of sea coasts in parts of the world where an on-site survey would be hazardous, if not impossible.

Lately, Dalrymple has been thinking about how waves break, and about surf zone turbulence, neither of which is well understood. People who work on off-shore oil rigs, or have to worry about the next hurricane or the migration of a resort's precious beach, would benefit from better understanding of both. He has a new model that employs smooth particle hydrodynamics. The basic idea is to consider a wave as if it were composed of 100,000 tennis balls, each ball a wave particle programmed to behave according to the laws of physics. On his computer, Dalrymple sets in motion an animation of a breaking wave, with the particles — the tennis balls — represented as a slew of tumbling red dots. As the wave breaks, a portion of the dots forms a sort of jet that bounces off the water's surface. Dalrymple points this out, then adds the puzzler — water doesn't bounce. Point a hose at a wall and yes, the water will splash, but it doesn't bounce back at you. Yet here are a bunch of red dots on his computer screen, bouncing like . . . like tennis balls.

And the model is right — he has found the corresponding phenomenon in actual waves. "You make the model, and it predicts what you want," Dalrymple says. "Then all of a sudden something new happens. You can observe that and forget about it, or you can observe that and ask, Why does it do that? And that leads you into a whole new area."

Rip currents, those powerful seaward currents that can unexpectedly pull swimmers away from the beach, have long fascinated him, and he's been studying them, too. He says, "During a study in the laboratory, my then-student Merrick Haller and I noticed that the rip currents flowing seaward from the beach were waving back and forth, like a flag in the breeze." Previous, simpler models had predicted that the currents would be steady and fixed in place. Dalrymple and Haller, who is now an assistant professor at Oregon State, rechecked their work. "Rather than being a mistake in the laboratory procedure, we found something cool: Rip currents can be unsteady. By using more sophisticated numerical models, we were able to predict this unexpected behavior."

Though he does the bulk of his work in his faculty office and on the university's powerful parallel computers, Dalrymple does occasionally go to the beach and watch the surf. "It's kind of humbling," he says. Does he look at waves and see equations? "Not equations. I see the fact that I can model it." He pauses. "But then I see something really bizarre, like a wave bouncing off the beach and heading back to sea, and it smacks into another wave and there's huge spray and I think, Ooooo . . . I can't model that."

Dale Keiger is a senior writer at Johns Hopkins Magazine.

4 Fishermen Feared Lost of Mentawai Islands

2006-03-27T09:34:00.000+07:00

Searchers have been hampered by bad weather and have found no trace of 4 Padang fisherment lost when their 10m motor boat capsized in rough seas south of Sipura Island on Saturday. Wind over tide can create extremely dangerous conditions in the shallow straits between North Pagai Island and Sipora and their is little hope of finding survivors.

One designated cyclone 'Floyd' and two revolving tropical storm centers with cyclone potential have linked up accross the Indian Ocean. Weather experts in Australia say this is a very occurance. Meanwhile Sumatra's West coast has experienced some of the most severe gales and heaviest rain every recorded for the month of March.

It is unclear how the cyclones interact with coastal weather off Sumatra but operators in the area have noticed a clear relationship with Typhoons in the NE Pacific and severe westerly storms off Sumatra in the past. The satellite images show cloud patterns that indicate that the combined pull of the three lows is generating strong northerly winds off the coast of Sumatra.

Island Aid Program Announced

2006-03-26T19:48:00.000+07:00

For the first time in 20 years the Governor of West Sumatra visited the Mentawais. Governor Gamawan Fauzi called a meeting of all West Sumatra's regional leaders (Bupatis) for a historic coordination meeting in Tua Pajet, the islands administrative center. Telkom sent their team out on Electric Lamb to join the meetings and to inaugurate a new internet service for the islands.

Telkom and Island Aid's teams - 14 onboard Electric Lamb

The new hospital in Tua Pajet was also opened. Island Aid and Kirekat announced their new partnership and the Artisanal Fishboat Program was explained to Mentawai administration staff.

Testing the new Mentawai internet system by loading Island Aid's website

Island Aid Partners with NGO Kirekat

2006-03-08T05:34:00.000+07:00

Yayasan Kirekat Indonesia have been providing support for Mentawai communities for over 5 years.

Soon after the 2004 tsunami, the organization sent a team to Nias to assist and they returned after the March 28th quake. The organization is primarily focused on assisting Mentawai communities but they are free to apply their skills and experience anywhere in Indonesia or the region.

On the 6th of March 2006, Island Aid and Kirekat signed a partnership agreement that covers all future projects in the Mentawai Islands. Island Aid and Kirekat will organize joint missions to the West Coast islands. Kirekat staff have an intimate knowledge of the issues that are most important in the Mentawais. Island Aid have the ability to apply the experience gained in Aceh and Nias and to back up joint missions with our considerable resources and international network. Each organization will remain autonomous and budgets for joint missions will be determined by consultation and approved on a case by case basis.

Kirekat's board brings considerable academic experience and the benefits of many years of intensive research to guide the organization. Prof. Dr. Reimar Schefold is widely respected as the world's leading authority on the anthropology of the Mentawais.

Pak Yudas receives the first boxes of mixed medical supplies at Island Aid headquarters in Padang.

(KIREKAT FOUNDATION OF INDONESIA)
PRESERVING MENTAWAI’S PRISTINE NATURE AND CULTURE

The Foundation Establishment

The life of Mentawai people. Mentawai archipelago is located 82 miles west of Sumatera island. Mentawai is one of several Districts in West Sumatera Province. Vegetations and animals in Mentawai evolved distinctively from those in the mainland of Sumatera. Mentawai has four typical kinds of monkeys which are not found in other parts of the world. They are only found in Mentawai. Siberut island, the largest island in Mentawai, is still covered by dense tropical rainforest divided by some rivers.

People in remote areas of Siberut still maintain their traditional ways of life such as traditional healing performed by “Kerei.” Through a healing ritual, the Kerei (shaman) is able to communicate with deceased ancestors, spirits and souls. Illness is considered being a disturbance between human beings and their spiritual environment. Healing means restoring the relationship harmony by guiding the strayed and wandering soul back to its body. Kerei is also knowledgeable about various herbal plants used for healing.

Some basic needs of Mentawai people are fulfilled by their surroundings. People plant coconuts along the river banks and they also grow sago palm in swamp areas. Sago flour is a staple food and is still processed traditionally. Each household has a farm in which various food crops, such as cassava, banana and other plants providing their basic needs, are grown. Some villagers also cultivate and work on small rice fields. Besides, they catch fish from rivers or seas and male villagers generally hunt for deer, monkeys, boars and other wild animals in the jungle.

Kirekat Foundation of Indonesia. The establishment of Yayasan Kirekat was initiated by the founding of “Board Kirekat The Netherlands” in January 2000 which aims to collect funds and contributions in order to improve the independent social life of every group of people in Indonesia in general and Mentawai people in particular. To facilitate its activities in Indonesia, Board Kirekat The Netherlands, with the initiative of Mr. Aurelius Yan, MA, a gentleman from Mentawai residing in Netherlands, along with several prominent figures of Mentawai, established “Yayasan Kirekat Indonesia” (Kirekat Foundation of Indonesia) in March 2001.

“Kirekat” term derives from Mentawai language meaning footprints and handprints of deceased ancestors which are carved onto the wall of house to keep them always in mind. This term is adopted by Yayasan Kirekat to show its ideals to develop social-cultural life of Mentawai by employing an approach suitable with the culture supporting the efforts to improve the development and living conditions of the indigenous population of the Mentawai archipelago.

Kirekat's Dr Yulinda and assistant Rosi sorting medical supplies yesterday.

BOARD KIREKAT THE NETHERLANDS

The Board :

Prof. Dr. Reimar Schefold ( Anthropology, University of Leiden )
Dr. Gerard Persoon (Center for Environmental Science, University of Leiden)

YAYASAN KIREKAT INDONESIA

Advisory Board :

Maralus Sinurat
Emilius Salamanang
Imerius Sakerebau, S.Th, M.Th

The Daily Management Board :

Chairman - Yudas Sabaggalet, SE.MM
Secretary - John Moa Diaz
Treasurer - Paulina Takjiningen Saruru’

The Controller Board :

Agustinus Sabebegen, S.Pd
Bastian Sirirui, S. Pd

Tsunamis & Tigers - We visited this village

2006-02-16T12:05:00.000+07:00

Soon after we arrived at PATEK we choppered into these villages to assess needs. Later our volunteers rode open trucks into the area loaded with aid supplies. I rode a borrowed trail bike through the mountains near Rantau Sabon several times and often wondered about tigers.

Antara News Agency just published this story:

Sumatran Tigers Attacking Villagers' Cattle in Aceh

Banda Aceh, (ANTARA News) - Farmers in Ratau Sabon and SP-V Patek villages, Aceh Jaya district, are now restless and scared to go to their rice fields in recent days as Sumatran tigers are often leave their habitat for villagers` resettlement to attack their cattle.

At least three head of cattle have been caught by roaming tigers in Rantau Sabon village, villagers said there on Sunday (2/12).

The two villages are located some 12 from the Sampoiniet sub-disgtrict town, or about 130 km from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. They are near to a palm oil plantation of PT Tiga mitra, which has been neglected for about five years.

Ridwan Adnan, one of the villagers, said that the locals often encountered the tigers when they went to their farm lands or went home from working.

"One of the tigers has a handicaped front leg. The bodies of the tigers are about two meters long," he said.

"We are scared and afraid of the repeat of an incident when three villagers were killed by tigers` attacks in 1992," he said.

He explained that in the 1992 incident villagers only found the victims` bones as other parts of their bodies were eaten up by the tigers.(*)

Quake Maps - New Perspective

2006-02-15T13:21:00.000+07:00

These beautiful maps are shown courtesy of Cal Tech's On-line News pages
They show the location of significant faults and help explain concerns
that the next major seismic event in the area may well take place
East of the Mentawais rather than further West.

Prof Titov's map below shows the extraordinary impact of the tsunami

on the globes oceans and shorelines.

Declaration of Participants - Earthquake Challenge - Padang

2006-02-13T15:39:00.000+07:00

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/disaster/map.html

Padang, West Sumatra, August 28, 2005 (recently published on the www)

For the past three days an international group of earthquake scientists and engineers has met to discuss earthquake hazards in western Sumatra. They reported results from their studies of the recent earthquakes and tsunamis in North Sumatra and Aceh provinces as well as their studies of the earthquake hazards of West Sumatra. Specific recommendations for reducing earthquake and tsunami risks are being sent to governmental and other organizations.

Summary of Scientific Knowledge
It is clear from several investigations that the giant earthquakes of December 2004 and March 2005 were caused by sudden rupture of the Sumatran megathrust fault beneath the islands of Nias and Simeulue and west of mainland Aceh. Rupture of the megathrust caused the islands and surrounding seafloor to jump upward and toward the Indian ocean as much as ten meters. During the earthquakes, the west coast of Aceh and North Sumatra sank one half to one meter. Uplift of the seafloor caused the tsunamis that struck the coasts after the earthquake.

Similar earthquakes struck the Mentawai islands and the coasts of West Sumatra and Bengkulu province in 1797 and 1833. Uplift of the seafloor around the Mentawai islands during those earthquakes caused large tsunamis that struck the mainland coast. Estimates of tsunami heights, from historical reports and scientific calculations, range as high as ten meters. Preliminary calculations suggest that hundreds of thousands of people would be severely affected by a future giant earthquake and tsunami in West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces.

No one is able to predict scientifically to the nearest day, week or even year when a great West Sumatran earthquake and tsunami will strike next. But the scientific evidence strongly suggests it will occur within the lifetimes of most young people living along the coast today -- such earthquakes occur about every two centuries and the last occurred 172 and 208 years ago. It is very unlikely that any valid prediction will be more specific than this, but we are hopeful that in the long term there will be improvements in forecasting the timing and nature of future large earthquakes. Scientific measurements show that strains now accumulating will culminate in the occurrence of a giant West Sumatran earthquake.

During this future great earthquake, the Mentawai islands will behave like Nias and Simeulue did recently ...... they will rise suddenly a meter or more. The mainland coast of West Sumatra and Bengkulu province will experience the same sort of sinking as the west coasts of North Sumatra and Aceh ...... about one half to one meter. This will lead to substantial permanent coastal changes affecting infrastructure and, hence, peoples' livelihoods.

What has already been done to prepare?
Specialists from Japan, Indonesia and the US reported that preparation for eventual earthquake and tsunami disasters can greatly reduce loss of life and property. Among useful activities are the evacuation simulations that have begun in Padang and distribution of educational materials to communities at risk from earthquake shaking and tsunami inundation. Infrastructural changes such as the adoption of better construction practices could ensure that bridges are still usable after severe shaking and tsunami inundation. Efforts to establish a tsunami early-warning system for coastal Indian-ocean communities are also underway through BMG.

Several scientists reported plans for research that will help understand better the nature of the earthquake and tsunami hazard to coastal communities in West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces. Marine geologic and geophysical studies will lead to a better understanding of the undersea faults that produce big earthquakes. Studies of small earthquakes in the coming months and years will help to pin down that section of the megathrust that is currently locked and that will eventually break to produce big earthquakes. Better topographic maps of the coastal regions and better bathymetric maps of the seafloor will enable more reliable estimates of areas that will be flooded by future tsunamis. Studies of the evidence left by ancient earthquakes and tsunamis will also help in this regard. Such estimates will aid in long-term urban planning aimed at reducing loss of life, property and productivity.

Recommendations to Indonesian research institutions
It is imperative that Indonesian governmental agencies support the continuation and expansion of earthquake and tsunami research efforts. Moreover, we support the ongoing efforts of LIPI, BPPT, BMG, BRKP-DKP, ESDM, Bakosurtanal, ITB and other Indonesian universities to attract substantially greater funding from foreign sources to facilitate research on this challenge. Successful research efforts with other nations will help greatly in understanding Sumatraâ€™s earthquake and tsunami challenge. We are particularly supportive of collaborations with foreign scientists and governments that include provisions for sustainable improvements in the Indonesian scientific community and infrastructure.

Far more reliable maps of potential tsunami inundation are essential to the people of West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces. Better bathymetric and topographic maps and a better understanding of likely tsunami sources will be fundamental input to construction of these maps. Indonesian research institutions can play a critical role in accomplishing this goal.

It is essential that the efforts already begun by LIPI to provide educational materials to the citizens of West Sumatra be continued and expanded significantly. These materials have not yet reached many people in coastal West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces.

And many people who are still fearful of another great tsunami in North Sumatra and Aceh would benefit from better scientific information.

Currently, all eyes are focused on the potential for shaking and tsunami damage from future ruptures of the megathrust. Nonetheless, it is important that Sumatrans not neglect the risks posed by their other great fault, the Sumatran fault, which runs through the mountains, from Semanko Bay to Banda Aceh. For example, Banda Aceh will be more at risk from failure of that fault than from another earthquake and tsunami caused by the megathrust. In this particular case, what ground motions will likely result from rupture of this fault and what is the likelihood of their occurrence? Also, the specific location of the fault must be known so that new construction will not be placed across it.

Recommendations to governments and local organizations
The gradual, systematic reduction of potential loss of life, property and productivity should be a fundamental goal. This requires efforts in three areas: education, emergency response preparation and infrastructural change.

Education
Education is an extremely important avenue for the reduction of loss of life from tsunamis and earthquakes. For example, we commend ongoing local efforts in Padang and Air Bangis to establish procedures for the rapid and orderly evacuation of people from low-lying coastal regions after a great earthquake. We recommend that earthquake and tsunami education be incorporated into school curricula. These and other types of educational efforts must reach more of the at-risk populations and must be sustained over tens of years.

Emergency response preparedness
Access to regions affected by future large earthquakes and tsunamis will be critical to saving lives and property and re-establishing normalcy after the next great earthquake and tsunami. To ensure access, important bridges, roads, harbors and airports must be serviceable in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. For example, efforts must be undertaken to ensure that bridges and their approach embankments will survive the earthquake and tsunami. Lessons learned from Aceh will be valuable in this regard. In the case of bridges, the use of shear keys to prevent lateral separation of bridges from their abutments. Roads farther inland are more likely to survive tsunami inundation.

The airport authorities should have plans to ensure the viability of their facilities after disasters. For example, equipment should be available to immediately clear tsunami debris from runways. For the most critical harbor facilities, tsunami countermeasures should be implemented.

Emergency response plans should be developed, reviewed and exercised periodically prior to disasters, at all levels of organization. These plans should include such things as the practicalities of initial entrance into a tsunami-inundation zone. The existence of a tsunami early-warning system is intended to serve to inform local governments when it is safe to return to low-lying areas.

Infrastructural changes
Survival from large tsunamis and earthquakes will require a complex approach. Viability of water-supply pipelines and sewage systems is critical in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Therefore the vulnerability of water pipes both above- and below-ground needs special attention. For example, water pipes running along bridges should be adequately attached to structural members of the bridge. Also, adequate burial of underground pipes will ensure their survival. Another activity should be the evaluation of the use of existing tall buildings as vertical evacuation structures.

The use of pile-deck structures in hard-to-evacuate districts, as in Japan, should also be considered. Special attention should be paid to the construction of new mosques as vertical evacuation structures.

Floatable structures such as storage tanks and barges may need to have drift-prevention measures.

Establishment of evacuation routes and plans have already begun in Padang and Air Bangis. These efforts should continue to completion.

Precise pre-disaster surveys of property boundaries would help in post-disaster recovery. Lessons learned from the recent great earthquakes and tsunamis regarding building codes and code enforcement should be implemented throughout the earthquake and tsunami prone regions of Sumatra. Additionally, since many buildings are built without formal compliance to building codes, better dissemination of earthquake- and tsunami-resistant building practices need to be promulgated.

Many lessons from the Aceh disaster will be useful here.

Fundraising via www.Fundable.org for Gomo Girls

2006-02-02T14:42:00.000+07:00

For all those who would like to contribute to Enawati and Soterian's skin graft treatment in Hawaii, please visit the link below to pledge your support. The operations and months of treatment will be donated by Shriners of Hawaii. The funds raised are to cover passport & documentation costs, living costs & airfares for the two girls and their legal guardian, Pak Handi Laia.

https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/burngirls

To help co-ordinate our support efforts in the Gomo area, it is critical to be able to communicate with Dr Laia. The Dr's old sat phone has died and we are raising funds for a new one. Fortunately there is a low cost service available and it is possible to monitor e-mail via this system. This will save Dr Laia a 4-5 hour drive to Gunung Sitoli over very bad roads every time he needs to talk to us.

https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/niasphone

If the total funds are not raised within 25 days, your pledge will not be called on.

Mangroves "Saved Lives" & vital for sustainable fisheries

2006-02-02T12:06:00.000+07:00

Tsunami: Mangroves 'saved lives'

By Mark Kinver
BBC News science and nature reporter

Researchers say mangroves absorbed the impact of the tsunami

Healthy mangrove forests helped save lives in the Asia tsunami disaster, a new report has said.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) compared the death toll from two villages in Sri Lanka that were hit by the devastating giant waves.

Two people died in the settlement with dense mangrove and scrub forest, while up to 6,000 people died in the village without similar vegetation.

Many forests in the past were felled to build prawn farms and tourist resorts.

The IUCN said it showed that healthy ecosystems acted as natural barriers.

"It saved a lot of lives as well as properties," said Vimukthi Weeratunga, the union's biodiversity coordinator in Sri Lanka.

"We have carried an out ecological assessment of the damage caused by the tsunami. In some areas the damage was very minimal, and mangrove vegetation had played a role."

Now everyone is keen to plant a lot of mangroves in the coastal areas

Vimukthi Weeratunga, IUCN

Research has shown mangroves are able to absorb between 70-90% of the energy from a normal wave.

There is, however, no reliable data on how the trees mitigate the impact of a tsunami.

Many people living in coastal areas now want to see their communities benefit from the apparent protection offered by mangrove forests.

"People tend to respect these natural barriers even more, especially after the tsunami," Mr Weeratunga said.

"Now everyone is keen to plant a lot of mangroves in the coastal areas but unfortunately we cannot plant mangroves everywhere."

Slow recovery

Coral reefs were also in the direct path of the tsunami. Fears for these ecosystems were allayed after initial surveys found that there had not been widespread, long-term damage.

But they did not escape unharmed. Debris and silt from the shore was washed out to sea and covered the reefs.

One year on: Environmental impact of the tsunami disaster

At-a-glance

Twelve months later, the IUCN has found that reefs which were in good shape before the waves struck are recovering much more quickly than degraded sites.

Lucy Emerton, head of the union's ecosystems and livelihoods group in Asia, explained why.

"Healthy coral reefs are much more robust in terms of recovering from either natural or man-made disasters," she told the BBC News website.

"Physically, you see a beautiful coral reef that is coming back to life rather than one that is still smothered in debris."

Many of the reefs in the Indian Ocean had been damaged from dynamite fishing, coral mining and bleaching.

The protection that healthy marine and coastal ecosystems provided during the disaster highlighted the need for effective environmental policies, Ms Emerton said.

Damaged coral has been slower to recover from the tsunami

"It was immediately obvious what an important role mangrove forests, wetlands and coral reefs played in mitigating the impact [of the tsunami]," she argued.

"It has led to a real step forward in looking at integrated coastal management systems."

She said strong conservation laws already existed but there had been questions about how effective they had been enforced.

One example of a local government flexing its conservation muscles is the recent declaration to establish two new turtle sanctuaries in southern Sri Lanka.

Elsewhere, four international conservation groups, led by Wetlands International, have launched a project called Green Coast.

Working alongside local governments and construction companies, the project hopes to rehabilitate the habitat in areas affected by the disaster.

Fishing fears

Both mangrove forests and coral reefs found in coastal areas provide vital protection and breeding grounds for fish - a key source of income and nutrition for people in the region.

A report published by the Malaysian-based WorldFish Center has warned that misplaced investment by donors could do more harm than good in the long term.

When the giant waves swept inland in December 2004, between 80-90% of the fishing fleet was destroyed.

This prompted a massive effort by the international community to replace lost vessels and gear.

International donors were quick to replace destroyed fishing boats

While welcoming the overwhelming response, the centre's director general, Stephen Hall, said it was important for donors to coordinate their efforts with the governments.

"There is a real danger that we are going to set these communities back on the downward spiral of unsustainable fish stocks," he said.

"The Indonesian government estimates that 10,500 boats were lost [in Aceh]. Of those, around 2,500 were repaired. Recent estimates put the number of boats that have been built or in the process of being built at around 10,800.

"So we now have 2,800 more boats than we started with."

Dr Hall said this created the potential to place even greater pressure on already overexploited stocks.

This view is shared by the IUCN's Vimukthi Weeratunga.

"Immediately after the tsunami, a lot of the NGOs and other well wishers were distributing boats.

"But we saw the distribution of too many boats and an increase in fishing."

Latest figures from the UN Farming and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show fish catches in Aceh for 2005 are down 41% for marine fishing and 26% for brackish water aquaculture.

Balancing act

The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) published a report in November highlighting the challenges of meeting the demands of the mammoth relief effort without exacerbating the damage to the environment.

It warned that haphazard groundwater extraction, unsanitary disposal of waste, chaotic rebuilding of homes and unsustainable timber harvesting could result in more environmental damage, leading to an increase in poverty and greater vulnerability to future disasters.

A number of agencies, including the FAO and Unep, are working closely with the governments of nations affected by the disaster.

Help is being provided in a number of areas, such as offering technical assistance to overstretched environment ministries and coordinating the mobilisation of funding.

As attention begins to focus on the future, Vimukthi Weeratunga warns that there are no quick fixes when it comes to repairing the environmental damage.

"It will take five to seven years, at least, to get to the pre-tsunami stage - and that is a conservative estimate."

Time Magazine's "LIVING ON A FAULT LINE"

2006-02-01T11:32:00.000+07:00

JOHN STANMEYER—VII FOR TIME

HELPING HANDS: Geologist Sieh, center, explains tectonic plate movements to local residents

How frightened should we be?

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/disaster/story.html

Posted Monday, December 12, 2005; 20:00 HKT

The village of Maligi (name changed to avoid panic) on the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra seems idyllic—two dozen houses strung along a palm- and casuarina-covered strip of land, on one side the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean, on the other a rippling river mouth. When a rare group of visitors appears in the bright mid-morning sunlight, a dozen children chase after the car, laughing and waving.

"So many kids," American geologist Charles Rubin mutters gloomily as he waves back. "They don't have a chance."

"Nope," agrees fellow geologist Kerry Sieh, also waving and smiling. "They'd all be killed. There's just nowhere to run here. It's water on both sides."

"If they knew what was coming, they might be able to climb the coconut trees and survive," Rubin continues, "assuming the tsunami wasn't too high, say in the four-meter range. They need to build platforms on the trees and maybe cut steps in the tree trunks. They need information. You should give them one of your posters, Kerry."

Sieh nods. A professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology, he probably knows more than any person on the planet about how and why earthquakes and tsunamis happen so often, to such deadly effect, in this part of the world. Sieh and his colleagues on this field trip know how many lives have already been saved by posters and other efforts to educate those who live in a 2,000-km-long danger zone running from Aceh on the northern end of Sumatra to an island off its southern tip called Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatau. And they'd like to save some more.

For Sumatra is at risk. In the space of just three months at the beginning of 2005, two giant earthquakes rocked the region. A tremor on Dec. 26 produced a tsunami that knocked the earth off its axis and killed nearly a quarter of a million people. Then, on March 28, came another huge earthquake, this time farther south. There was no large tsunami generated by that temblor—dubbed the Nias quake after the island off the Sumatra coast that was worst affected—but over a thousand islanders died. After two such devastating blows, the inhabitants of Sumatra might be forgiven for assuming that nature will leave them in peace. It probably won't. Sieh, 54, and other scientists are warning that the island's troubles are not over. It isn't as though anybody needed a reminder, but the Oct. 8 earthquake that leveled large swathes of Pakistan and Northern India, leaving some 73,000 dead and millions homeless, could be a small taste of what is to come in Sumatra.

Even by Indonesia's chaotic standards, 2005 was a tough year. First came the gargantuan task of cleaning up and rebuilding after the tsunami—a job rendered more challenging by incompetence, bureaucracy and corruption. Then came the sudden eruption of bird flu that constantly threatened to explode into a major epidemic, and fresh bombings in Bali, which sent the country's tourism industry into a tailspin. But such problems would pale in the face of yet another monster earthquake striking Sumatra. That could kill hundreds of thousands of people. Such a quake, moreover, might trigger not just another tsunami but force a volcano to erupt, as happened with Mt. Talang, which was jolted out of an almost 40-year slumber by the Nias temblor.

How sure can we be that another catastrophe is coming? A combination of historical, geographical and geological research accumulated over some 12 years of painstaking field and laboratory work emphatically suggests that a section of the coast several hundred kilometers long, and populated by more than a million inhabitants, is threatened by the possibility of another shock. "There has never been a more certain geological prediction," Sieh declares. "There will be another gigantic earthquake and tsunami south of the equator off the west coast of Sumatra. It could be tomorrow or it could be in two decades from now, but there is no doubt that it will happen and that if the towns and villages along the coast aren't prepared, many, many people will die again."

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/disaster/story2.html

Lightning Strike & Great News for Gomo Cousins

2006-01-23T07:25:00.000+07:00

Normally tropical storms give some warning and we unplug our equipment but Thursday night we were hit by the first strike. I took a medicinal zap from the metal body of the project's new Powerbook and everything went black as the air was sucked from our ears. It was very very close and could have been much worse. Both our Macs lost their modems and we are working on the back-up pc.

Expect some delays answering mail until we check on parts availability in Jakarta and Singapore. Skype is functional but AIM/iChat is off line.

WARNING - CONTENT MAY SHOCK

10 year old Soterian Laia has horrific burn scarring

ELM - NWM volunteer Lisa Friesen has had a remarkable meeting with Shriners in Hawaii and they are keen to treat Enawati (13) and Soterian(10) in Hawaii. These Gomo cousins were seriously burned in a kerosene lamp explosion while living in a tent and they will both require extensive skin grafts and a long period of rehabilitation in the US. UVI and GBI are focused on raising funds for airfares and living expenses for the girls and a legal guardian, Soterian's father, Handy Laia.

Enawati's burns are extensive

Lisa has worked hard over the past few months and last week she had a wonderful meeting with Shriners Hawaii. They are excited to be able to help the girls and have other Indonesian children under care. Hawaii has many advantages over mainland US for the girls. It is more tropical and being an island culture, we are confident they will feel more at home.

See http://www.notseennotheard.com for more fundraising options or donate via our ELM Donations Pay Pal account with a note that your funds are specifically for the girls treatment.

The Scale of ELM's Mission

2006-01-10T09:47:00.000+07:00

This map helps to understand the scale of the area we will continue to support once we secure full funding for our new mother ship.

The Blue text indicates areas we have supported with "Batavia" & "Electric Lamb" to date.
The Yellow text indicates areas where we have only worked with smaller boats including "Electric Lamb"

Red cities have airports. (Sibolga is a military airstrip)
Green cities are our preferred loading ports.
Yellow shaded areas are the areas we have either already supported or areas we know need support and are not getting any.

The only yellow area we can reach by commercial flight/ferry + vehicle is Gomo in SE Nias.

NW Aceh is serviced by a temporary road but it has deteriorated to the point where it is only passable after extended periods without rain.

There is motorcycle access to West Simeulue but no 4 wheel vehicle access due to bridge damage.

There are no roads on the Banyaks or Batus and only a few km of passable roads in the entire Mentawai chain.

The map of Europe is at the same scale...... We had not compared the extent of our operations area in this way until this morning. The comparison came as something of a shock.

The enormity of the area where ship based support is urgently needed is daunting but no other NGO is equipped to tackle the problem.

Our efforts are focused on raising funds for a new mothership because without it, there will be no hope or help for the isolated communities in the yellow shaded areas. We have continued to work with our small yacht, but frankly it is not efficient and too small to make much impact on the problem alone.

ELM have proven how effective we can be in ship-borne mode and that is our strength - our aid niche. That remains our focus.

Pacifican Chris Ranken's charity work with Electric Lamb has become more than a one-time effort

2005-12-31T08:08:00.000+07:00

By Chris Hunter - Pacifica Tribune

It's been a year since the cataclysmic tsunami devastated an enormous region of the planet from Indonesia to India, killing nearly a quarter million people.
The outpouring of humanitarian good will generated by the catastrophe was one of the highlights of 2005, although clearly inspired by one of modern history's worst disasters.

Pacifica resident Chris Ranken was one of the many people who decided to pitch in and help. Unlike most of them, his charity action turned into an ongoing part of his life.

"I just wanted to go over there," says Ranken, who also serves as a Pacifica Planning Commissioner. "My first thought was to go to the Red Cross. But I read about the Electric Lamb in Newsweek. I decided I could have more of an impact with a smaller organization."

The Electric Lamb Mission is a unique humanitarian organization created by Rick Cameron and Jane Liddon to assist the people in Western Sumatra who were affected by the tsunami. Australians who managed a seagoing tourist ship named "Electric Lamb," the couple morphed into truly dedicated humanitarians, making a big difference in Sumatra during the freshman year of their organization.

"Chris Ranken contacted us a few days after the quake and was incredibly helpful with our efforts to network to spread the news about Aceh to a world looking the other way," says Cameron in a Tribune interview. "Chris is an ex-fireman and has a lot of emergency training and he quickly realized that he could not sit at home in the face of this unprecedented tragedy. He put his engineering practice and private life on hold, jumped on the first available flight and helped us mobilize our 800-ton mother ship, Batavia, in the dreadful days after the tsunami hit.

"We asked him to fly direct to Jakarta where we were loading the ship and then left him in charge of organizing the loading and security aboard while we rushed around town securing sponsors and aid supplies.

"He spoke no Indonesian and had zero experience with ships so we had no idea how he would cope. Chris remained unflappable and efficient in the midst of the most chaotic situation a volunteer could ever experience! He was amazing! We left him aboard for the first leg from Jakarta to Padang and by the time the ship arrived, he had the crew well in hand, a complete inventory and loading plan drawn up! Everything was stacked neatly and he knew exactly where to find all the thousands of items we had loaded in the frantic rush in Jakarta. He is one of the many unsung heroes of the Aceh relief effort."

Ranken was so successful in making himself useful to the Electric Lamb Mission, that he became part of the group. He now represents Cameron's efforts in California.

"He's just a great guy," says Ranken of his new colleague. "I can't think of enough things to say about him."

Ranken's involvement included loading supplies, voyaging up the Sumatran coast, delivering water purification systems and providing ground support whenever possible. He witnessed firsthand the unimaginable devastation in the most remote parts of the country.

"I was one of the people doing everything," says Ranken. "I don't really like to specialize. So, anyone who comes in with some skills, instantly goes near the top. Then, I wanted to stay involved. We all want to make a difference. This is one way I can do something good for the world."

Ranken actually helped Cameron set up his charity as a non-profit organization. "I told him you have to get this registered," says Ranken, who then used his business and government skills to facilitate Cameron's vision.

Remembering his initial visit to Jakarta, Ranken admits he dived right in and took control of an unusual situation. "I don't mind being lost out of my culture," he says. "It was a challenge. I kind of relish that situation. And Rick was impressed. There have been so many different ways I've been able to help."

Ranken has traveled to Sumatra several times during the year, working with Electric Lamb and reconnecting with the people he has tried to help. He admits that the devastation is mind-boggling. Flying over the coastline, he saw nothing but disaster for 100 to 200 miles. "This was incredible," he now says.

But Sumatra wasn't the only place Chris Ranken tried to help this year. He took off for New Orleans after the hurricanes destroyed much of the American Gulf Coast in the fall. Initially thinking he would do research work for Electric Lamb, Ranken wound up pitching in and helping with the Red Cross. He realized that the Electric Lamb Mission had to continue to focus on Sumatra. "Well, it's the Third World," he says. "Americans are pretty darn generous, but in Sumatra, the scale is so much greater. It's ongoing."

Nonetheless, Ranken was able to help out in New Orleans while experiencing another disaster relief effort; both will aid him in his ongoing work with Electric Lamb. Again, he enjoys the fact that with Electric Lamb, he has a more meaningful leadership position. "There's a surprisingly small circle of people at the top," he says. Ranken is doing everything from fund-raising to checking out boats that the organization may one day purchase. He has, in essence, become the focal point for Electric Lamb in the United States.

At 47, Ranken is philosophical about his humanitarian efforts. Locally, he contributes through his work on the Planning Commission. He also ran for California Governor during the recent recall election. (Someone named Schwarzenegger beat him, although perhaps Ranken would have done a better job.)

"I'll do everything I can to get another ship for Electric Lamb," says Ranken. "Electric Lamb can do a really good job of helping in Sumatra. And because there's a likelihood of future earthquakes, having a vessel there is important. It would be a large ship patrolling the coast, like a floating relief supply ship."

His goal is to make a difference and working with Rick Cameron has given Chris Ranken a direction to do just that. "One thing that stands out is that everybody wanted to help," he says of the tsunami destruction. "It's a more spectacular thing to help out with. It's the epic natural disaster of our time. The tsunami bumped the people's standard of living down to tarps for tents. It's how they are living now."

Ranken is planning another trip back to Indonesia in early 2006. "I'm looking forward to my next trip back to Singapore and Indonesia," he says. "I'll be leaving immediately after the January 3 Planning Commission meeting. There were three promising developments on funding for us this week, so I'm in a good mood now."

For details on the Electric Lamb Mission, visit the comprehensive website at www.electriclamb.org.

Here is an article written by Chris Ranken and Rick Cameron back in January 2005. It presents an insight into what the Electric Lamb Mission faced, and continues to face, even a year after the tsunami tragedy.

Kampung Sawang - A Tragic Situation

By Chris Ranken and Rick Cameron

No matter how much anyone does for the people of northwest Sumatra - no matter how much food and water and medicine and tools and supplies anyone brings - things can never be the same again. The coastal hamlet of SAWANG near the village of LANGUAN shows this painfully.

156 people lived in this idyllic seaside kampung. Residents lived on fish, vegetables, and fruit, and tapped their rubber trees to sell in the city of CALANG, 15 kilometers away.

The tsunami hit the village with full force. 114 of the 156 died. 42 survived: 38 men, one woman, and three children. All the surviving men lost their wives and all their children; all the surviving children lost both their parents; and the lone surviving woman lost her husband and children.

All of the leaders of the community died. A village elder, apparently the new spokesman, told us, "I can't think, and we don't know what to do now." Half of the villagers, out of desperation, set out yesterday on the day-long walk to the CALANG. They hope to bring back food to their village - but CALANG itself was absolutely devastated by the tsunami, which killed most of the residents of that beautiful and thriving town of 15,000.

The survivors are in great pain, and there appears to be no way out. A month after losing his parents, the three-year-old still cries almost continuously for them. Sometimes he stops to call out for his drowned father, "Ayah, Ayah," and then starts crying again.

So there they are, a group of 42 unrelated people, almost all men. Their village is now little more than an encampment; they are living in makeshift shelters on a hillside. They are several kilometers from any other sign of civilization. They subsist on coconuts, fruit from a few trees, and what's left of their vegetable garden. In some ways, they are better off than other villages: they still have tools, and a well with fresh water. But their rubber trees are not worth tapping; there is no way for them to get the latex to market. And of course, all their fishing boats and equipment are gone - washed away by the sea that has sustained them for generations.

Until our arrival yesterday, this community had seen no aid at all, save for one insufficient food drop from a helicopter. We immediately brought them two small boats full of food, lamps (with kerosene), clothes, and hygiene supplies. They still have an urgent need for roofing iron, seeds, and more food, and we will continue to supply them in the future.

Those that have survived to this point are reasonably healthy, although there is one suspected case of malaria. But there are many flags visible along the beach, marking the gruesome remains of the many victims still not buried. We will return to the encampment today with body bags, gloves, boots and masks.

But despite what we give them, the community seems lost and hopeless without its women. To rebuild their community in a physical way seems feasible, but how can anyone measure the loss of all of their wives and children?

There are countless small kampungs like SAWANG, scattered along this devastated coast. Some of the villages came through a little better; some, a little worse. But for the hard working people of this area, life will never be the same. It's hard to imagine their lives will ever again be as full as they were when they woke up to a normal village morning on December 26th, 2004.

May 2006 Bring Hope & Comfort to Our Friends in Aceh and Nias

2005-12-25T12:43:00.000+07:00

Take a few minutes on this special day to think about the thousands of tsunami and quake victims who are still struggling unsupported to rebuild their lives.

ELM-UVI field volunteer Zach Shields a virtual volunteer Christopher Podell have produced an amazing video and image record of our work with communities in NW Aceh and Nias.

Sit the family down in front of a broadband linked computer and open this link:

http://www.notseennotheard.com

Over the Christmas/New Year break, open the gallery and let your kids select the interviews that interest them. So much of our work focused on children and so much more is yet to be done. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Great Indian Ocean Tsunami and our thoughts will be with those who lost so much.

Best wishes from Jane and I for 2006.

BRR PROJECTS SUPPORT NEED FOR ELM's I.C.S.

2005-12-19T08:25:00.000+07:00

BRR have a new data-base on line for approved projects in Aceh and Nias.

http://rand.brr.go.id/RAND/

Two projects of particular interest can be downloaded from this site and are also available from our ELM public page. (soon, we are having some connection problems)

1. WFP Sea Transportation Project US$116+ m - 24 landing craft to service the West Coast of Aceh and Nias. Note that the ports to be serviced are listed. These large landing barges can not access the Patek/Loh Kruet stretch of coastline because of dangerous landing conditions. The same problems apply on the West Coast of Simeulue, the Banyak Islands and many parts of the coast of West & North Nias.

2. Catholic Relief Services - Lamno Calang Road Repair and Urgent Small Works Program - US$11 m. The proposal requests urgent funding to repair/replace bridges and large sections of the the temporary road damaged by floods and poor drainage. This section of road passes through extremely difficult terrain and CRF estimate that a permanent all weather road will not be built for at least 4 years.

ELM has submitted a proposal to BRR - Isolated Community Support US$2.5 m, that complements these two very expensive projects and services the Aceh coastal areas confirmed as cut off as well as many other communities in even more isolated locations.

The news below does not reflect the lack of progress in the most isolated areas. Without transport nothing can be done for the estimated 20,000 victims who live far from the major towns and where roads are non-existant and sea transport is both dangerous and expensive.

December 16, 2005 - Jakarta Post
BRR says pace of rebuilding picking up
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite a slow start, progress has been made in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, with the pace of reconstruction picking up. The 65,000 people still living in tents should be residing in decent housing by the end of 2006, officials said on Thursday.

The head of the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, said that some 16,200 new homes had been constructed so far and 13,200 are under construction, out of the 110,000 needed.

"The reconstruction effort is now running at an increasingly fast pace. We've built 5,000 houses per month since October. But 65,000 people still live in tents, so yes, we're still slow," he told a news conference as the agency released its one-year progress report.

Kuntoro said the main priority for next year was to provide decent shelter for all the displaced tsunami survivors.

While permanent homes for all those displaced would take more time, 20,000 transitional houses -- with aluminum frames and wooden floors -- will have been erected by early 2006.

The progress report shows the post-tsunami recovery efforts 12 months after an 800-kilometer band of Aceh coastline was devastated by the Dec. 26 disaster, leaving some 230,000 people killed or missing.

BRR, a ministry-level body set up in April to coordinate rebuilding, acknowledged that the government had been sluggish in formulating a response strategy.

More than 65,000 people were still living in tents, while some 50,000 others were still in temporary barracks, the report said. Around half a million people were initially displaced by the tsunami, but many have moved to stay with relatives.

The agency said 235 kilometers of 3,000 kilometers of damaged roads had so far been rebuilt, 335 of 2,000 damaged schools had been rebuilt or were under construction, and 13,000 of 60,000 hectares of agricultural land had been restored.

Funding has not been a problem for Aceh and Nias, as hundreds of international and local charities have pledged help. One year after the tsunami, US$4.4 billion has already been allocated to over 1,000 projects.

Currently, $775 million of the funds had already been spent, with the largest share coming from NGOs and donor countries. Monthly disbursements will have increased to about $150 million by the end of this year and will likely rise to $200 million per month during 2006.

It is expected that the Indonesian government, donors and NGOs will ultimately contribute between $8 billion to $10 billion to rebuild Aceh and Nias through to 2009.

There are many sectors, however, with insufficient funding, such as communications, energy, transport and environment.

Education and health services are recovering fast, but lagging in the west coast, the report said.

Restoring livelihoods after losses of some US$1.2 billion in the fishing, farming and manufacturing sectors has been another major challenge, with the construction boom providing many jobs that will not be sustainable in the long run.

Fishermen are meanwhile likely to need fresh assistance.

The report also said 18,000 of the damaged 80,000 hectares of agricultural land and ponds had been restored, 3,122 of the needed 4,717 fishing boats had been supplied, and 40,000 of 60,000 farmers had returned to their land.

However, most of the boats were not expected to last beyond 18 months due to their poor design and substandard materials.

As the reconstruction moves into its second year, the BRR called for better coordination among stakeholders.

"It is time to get beyond sentiments of 'my project, or yours' and recognize the need for active coordination," the report said.

More than 400 local and international charities are operating in Aceh and the BRR has threatened to "name and shame" those who fail to deliver on their pledges.

Return to ELM's home page.

In Memory of my dear Mum

2005-12-11T11:22:00.000+07:00

Wife of Bob, Mother to Chris, George, Bruce, Kath, Mary and I,
Gwenyth passed away last Tuesday in Bull Creek, West Australia.
She was an amazing woman and a wonderful Mum.

Scientists Voice Tsunami Concern

2005-12-09T07:40:00.000+07:00

By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter, San Francisco

A US scientist studying the islands off southern Sumatra says it is very clear the region can expect more big quakes and tsunami in the coming decades.

Prof Kerry Sieh is using a GPS network to monitor land movements close to the great fault line that ruptured to produce last December's disaster. His work indicates there is still huge strain bound up in the fault, and that this could let go in the near future.

He believes the cities of Padang and Bengkulu may be at greatest risk.

"The time is now to start mitigating for such an event," said Kerry Sieh, who is attached to the California Institute of Technology's Tectonics Observatory.

"I don't know with certainty that it's going to happen but our team is telling people on the coast that they have to expect that this will happen in the lifetime of their children."

To the south
The 26 December quake of magnitude 9.2 stemmed from a rupture along the line where the Indian/Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates grind over each other.

Coastal trees are being submerged as the strain accumulates

The associated tsunami wrought destruction throughout the Bay of Bengal, from Northern Sumatra to Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. It was followed by a magnitude 8.7 in March - with the rupture occurring further south along the plate boundary.

Prof Sieh, speaking here at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, says the concern of scientists is now focused on events further south still, to a region known as the Mentawai islands patch. This zone has experienced giant earthquakes about every two centuries, and is nearing the end of its earthquake cycle.

Coral rise
Prof Sieh says the strain building up in the region is evident from the behaviour of island coastlines - some are becoming submerged. It is in the nature of tectonic plates that they do not glide smoothly past each other, as one dives under the other.

After a quake, land that had been pulled down will pop back up
In fact, the plates move in "stick-slip" fashion, which means land at the leading edge of the overriding plate is pulled down briefly before suddenly slipping back up, generating a large earthquake.

Surveys along northern Sumatra following the 26 December and 28 March events have revealed coral reefs that have come out of the water as land has thrust back up.

"When you look further to the south, the groves of trees and other coastal features are still sitting out in the water; they have not yet risen. So, we know the strain is still accumulating; our GPS network is telling us it is still accumulating," Prof Sieh explained.
"Our concern is that the next thing to happen will be ruptures."

Wave model
Prof Sieh says historical and coral records show the Mentawai islands patch experiences magnitude 8-plus quakes on a roughly 200-year cycle, and are accompanied by large tsunami.
"It appears that these giant earthquakes either occur singly or in couplets: singly in the 1300s and late 1500s, and as a couplet in the late 18th Century and early 19th Century; and the average time between those three sets is about 240 years."

Modelling predicts up to 10m waves hitting the coast
Prof Stephan Grilli, from the University of Rhode Island, has modelled the tsunami that would result in the area from a magnitude 9.2 quake, the same as 26 December.
"Our prediction for Padang and Bengkulu further south would be up to 10m waves hitting the cities," he told the AGU meeting.

Both Padang and Bengkulu are bigger cities than Banda Aceh which was destroyed in the 26 December tsunami.

Like Banda Aceh, Padang is very low-lying.

Quake Off Indonesia Triggers Tsunami Alert

2005-11-25T10:58:00.000+07:00

Note: Loss of Rick's laptop in an armed holdup in Johannesburg 2 weeks ago resulted in suspension of ELM updates. We are back on line. Please resend any email if you did not receive a reply. Mail logs were lost and it has taken time to salvage contacts lists from backup archives. The post below is a few days old but worth reading to understand the overall situation faced by tsunami and quake victims and agency staff in the area.

By ALI KOTARUMALOS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Nov 19, 4:33 PM ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia - An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.2 struck off the coast of Sumatra on Saturday, triggering a tsunami alert and prompting some residents to flee their homes, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of a tsunami, damages or casualties.

The quake's epicenter was located off Simeulue island, about 160 miles southwest of Medan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck just after 9 p.m. local time.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency put the quake's magnitude at 6.2, but the USGS said the magnitude was 6.5. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

The quake strongly jolted nearby Nias island and was felt in Medan, said Subagio, an official at the Indonesian agency's Jakarta office who goes by a single name.

Agus Mendrofa, deputy mayor of Nias, told El Shinta radio station that some people momentarily fled their houses when the temblor struck.

"It was pretty strong because it was the first time in the past months that people ran out of houses because of a quake," Mendrofa said.

He said he had received no reports of damage on the island.

Rusdi, a Simeulue resident, told The Associated Press by telephone that the quake did not cause any widespread panic in the main island town of Sinabang.

Simeulue is near the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude quake on Dec. 26 that caused a tsunami that killing or left missing more than 220,000 people in 11 Indian Ocean countries. Sumatra was the hardest hit, losing some 128,000 people.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no threat of a tsunami to Pacific coastlines, but quakes of similar size can sometimes generate local tsunamis along coasts within a few hundred miles of the epicenter.

A team of German and Indonesian scientists are installing a tsunami warning system along the coast of Sumatra, expected to be operational by year's end. The system of sensors on the ocean floor and giant buoys on its surface will be able to notify coastal observation stations within 10 minutes of a tsunami-strength earthquake.

Sumatra has been wracked by scores of powerful aftershocks since last year's tsunami. In March, an 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck Nias and Simeulue, causing widespread damage and killing about 900 people.

Experts say the fault line that triggered that temblor is unstable and may produce another major quake soon.

Footnote:

Willy (Brian Williams) reports that the quake did not cause much panic or do much damage in South Simeulue. One family required medivac for burns after their house caught fire.

ECONOMIC GULF - UVI REPORT

2005-10-28T18:51:00.000+07:00

UVI Director Marshall Bailey and Kerry Schneider recently entered into a Cardboard Boat Regatta at Indiana University in Bloomington. The objective was to build and race a boat composed strictly of cardboard and duct tape. At 7 pm construction began and ended the next day at 3 pm, with the assistance of Engineer Ed Sherfield throughout the night, producing a rough replica model of and Indonesian Fishing Boat, named “Sampan” in Indonesian.

The cost of materials for this project was $50-70 USD which was all inclusive. The Council for Advancing Student Leadership sponsored event drew in a huge crowd with their donations going towards scholarship grants recognizing student leaders in the campus.

UVI’s purpose in entering the Regatta was to draw a correlation to the fishing situation in the Tsunami ravaged Indonesia. The same price of $50-$70 USD will buy an Indonesian man one 15-20ft fishing boat and allow him to feed his entire family and maybe 2-3 others for the rest of their lives. After the Tsunami literally all of the small fishing boats were destroyed and a handful of 50 foot floating fishing platforms were the only ones left in the Lho Kruet and Pulu Raya areas of Aceh where 90+ had been operational before. This is how the people managed to feed themselves and now, almost a year later; the situation is still the same…dire.

AID IRONY - A FENCE OR AN SUV

2005-10-27T21:37:00.000+07:00

Hello all,
Regarding (recent e-mail on slow progress) I think these sentiments express the frustration that many are feeling with the reconstruction and rehabilitation process in Aceh.

Let me relate a story from Lam Kruet in Lok Nga.

A couple of weeks ago I sat in a warung in Lam Kruet with about 15 farmers. We talked for several hours. They are now ready to go back to work, and the one thing that's stopping them is a fence. They have one large area (rice/vegetables) that has been cleaned up, and is ready to plant. They have just missed their once-a-year window to plant rice, but they're keen to plant vegetables.

They were waiting for an answer to a request to Oxfam for funding to rebuild their fence to keep out pigs, buffaloes and goats. The fence is 2000m long, and their request is for Rp300million to do the project. Without the fence, there's no point planting crops because they'll be eaten by wild animals. So they sit and wait.

Here is an example of something that needed to be done quickly, to get these guys back to work. If there's one thing that will help them move on, it's work. Psycologically it's important, and it's vital economically to get their livelihoods happening again.

I couldn't help noticing the irony that I'd arrived there earlier in the day (working for a large NGO) in a car worth Rp300million. If I noticed it, you'd reckon the locals did too.

I can't help thinking that the NGO's are simply not getting enough done where it's needed most.

Another quick example: I see tambak being rebuilt in it's old form. This is a big mistake. I'm working with an aquaculture expert from Medan, and we know that tambak, as it was before the tsunami, was not sustainable economically or environmentally.

For sure we should rebuild aquaculture, but what's the point of rebuilding something that was broken before? Aquaculture badly needs models of sustainability (we're working on a proposal), and resources should not be wasted, and future livelihoods should not be saboutaged by rebuilding systems that don't work.

Norm van't Hoff
BICG

RAINS BRING MORE MISERY TO ACEH

2005-10-19T15:12:00.000+07:00

JAKARTA (AP): Flash floods and landslides crashed into several villages in Aceh province after days of heavy rain, killing at least two people and injuring 22 others, police and hospital officials said Wednesday.

"Looking at the conditions, there is a likelihood of more dead," said police Brig. Mutarudin. "All our forces are now looking for survivors."

The water and mud crashed into scores of houses in Semadan village and nearby hamlets in southern Aceh regency late Tuesday after days of heavy rain, said Mutarudin.

Hundreds of police and villagers were digging through the debris early Wednesday, he said.

At least two people were killed and 22 people were injured, two of them seriously, said Dr. Ramulia, from the nearby Kutacane Hospital.

Hundreds of families had fled their destroyed villages and were now sheltering at Kutacane's airport and sport stadium, said local government official Rachmat Fadli.

Heavy tropical downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia.

Aceh is still recovering from a massive earthquake on Dec. 26 that triggered a tsunami, which killed more than 131,000 people and left more than 500,000 homeless.

UN RELIEF CHIEF BEMOANS SLOW ACEH RECONSTRUCTION

2005-10-17T19:36:00.000+07:00

The United Nations emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, has said reconstruction in the Indonesian province of Aceh is moving too slowly. Mr Egeland said better leadership and coordination were needed in the region, where much of the infrastructure was wiped out by last year's tsunami. Mr Egeland says the province's remoteness on the tip of northern Sumatra island, a lack of roads as well as ports had made things difficult for the international community. (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4348220.stm

17 October 2005
CALANG: Reconstruction in Indonesia's Aceh is moving too slowly nearly 10 months after a killer tsunami struck, and there is not enough co-ordination between aid groups, a top UN official said on Sunday. Jan Egeland, the UN's chief emergency relief co-ordinator, said the province's remoteness on the tip of northern Sumatra island and a lack of roads as well as ports had made things difficult for the international community.

But more urgency was needed, Egeland said during a visit to Calang, once a pretty town of 9000 people on the west coast of Aceh that was obliterated by the December 26 tsunami.
Around 170,000 people were killed or are missing and feared dead in Aceh after a 9.15 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in four decades, unleashed the most devastating tsunami on record. The calamity killed or left missing more than 232,000 people across a dozen Indian Ocean nations.

"People of course are frustrated here because it's gone too slow and I understand. It has gone too slow. We now need to help the Indonesians help themselves quicker into reconstruction," Egeland told reporters after visiting quake-hit Pakistan.

"It's clear that we must move much quicker now to put people away from the tents and into permanent houses. All agencies and all NGOs need to work more together."

"It has not been good. There have been hundreds of different actors and each one starting their parallel programmes," he added.

Egeland noted large sums of money were available and said reconstruction was moving ahead well in some places, but that in others it was too slow. More leadership and co-ordination between the government and the donor community was needed, he added.
Last month the first large-scale building of homes was completed in Aceh, with around 10,000 houses built for survivors living in tents and military style barracks. The earthquake and tsunami left around half a million people homeless. Many survivors are still living in squalid camps.

Across the long Acehnese coastline devastated by the tsunami, some home rebuilding has already taken place, but this has often only been the work of individual communities.
Most of the tsunami-related housing projects are being funded by international aid groups.
BRR, the government agency overseeing the rebuilding of Aceh, has said another 20,000 houses for survivors were under construction. The BRR has also said it planned to oversee the construction of tens of thousands more houses in the future.

The global community has pledged more than $US4 billion for tsunami relief and rehabilitation in Indonesia. - Reuters http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3445827a12,00.html

5.7 QUAKE DAMAGES BANDA ACEH

2005-10-06T10:10:00.000+07:00

A series of quakes have rocked Banda Aceh city over the past 48 hrs.

5.5 2005/10/03 22:09:24 5.525 94.353 30.0km NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.3 2005/10/04 12:23:25 5.516 94.258 40.6km NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.7 2005/10/05 08:46:42 5.234 95.481 10.0km NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

The most recent was inland and only about 35km from the city center. It was shallow (only 10km) and there are reports of structural damage to buildings through out the city.

I have just spoken to Lynnette Johnson in BA and she is concerned that her office building and mess has been damaged so extensively that they may have to abandon it. Seismologists have warned that BA lies directly on top of the main inland Sumatran fault and that the risk of a mega quake near or under the city is high.

BALI BOMBS - JASON CHILDS & FAMILY HELP VICTIMS

2005-10-02T10:05:00.000+07:00

Two of the blasts in Bali were in Jimbarran close to the home of Jason & Michelle.
This mail is just in:

Hi everyone,
We are all safe. We were at home having dinner with a few friends. We heard
the bombs down near the beach and hoped that it wasn't a bomb. We all ran to
the beach and saw the bombs had gone off at the fish cafes near our house.
Stiffy and Michelle did an awesome job helping the wounded.
We are so lucky. I think all our friends are ok too.
Please let any friends know we are ok.
Love to everyone.

Jason and Michelle

(Jason Childs volunteered on Batavia's first mission to Aceh)

NEW STROKE TREATMENTS CAN REVERSE DAMAGE

2005-09-28T18:13:00.000+07:00

There are new drugs available that can save a stroke victim's life AND reverse most or all of the damage.

We cant verify all the content of this post but check the links at the bottom of the page for 3rd party verification. Everyone should print this and glue it to their fridge door.

We are investigating availabilty of suitable equipment to alow our medical teams to scan patients on board and administer the treatment. In the meantime, existing medical facilities in the area of concern will be surveyed for capacity to administer this life saving treatment or to upgraded.

Rick
ELM

------mailed to ELM today---------

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours, in many cases he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed and getting to the patient within 3 hours which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE - A true story

Susie is recouping at an incredible pace for someone with a
massive stroke all because Sherry saw Susie stumble - - that is
the key that isn't mentioned below -and then she asked Susie the 3
questions. So simple - - this literally saved Susie's life - -
Some angel sent it to Suzie's friend and they did just what it
said to do. Suzie failed all three so then 9-1-1 was called .

Even though she had normal blood pressure readings and did
not appear to be a stroke as she could converse to some extent
with the Paramedics they took her to the hospital right away. Thank
God for the sense to remember the "3" steps.

Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.

Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The
stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to
recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking
three simple questions:

1. *Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
ie . It is sunny out today) If he or she has trouble with any
of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to
the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers
could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech
problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three
questions.

They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke
Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of
This test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the
Stroke and prevent brain damage.

BE A FRIEND AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS AS
POSSIBLE, you could save their lives.

Here are the supporting links and extracts from some very reputable sources.
I quote drugdigest.org

"........Thrombolytics, sometimes called "clot busters," dissolve the blood clot that is blocking the flow of blood through the vessel. They are considered a first-line treatment for stroke because of their high rate of effectiveness........"

http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/PrintablePages/HealthConditions/1,20041,550288,00.html

I quote the National Institute for Neurology:

"........Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is a genetically engineered form of t-PA, a thombolytic substance made naturally by the body. It can be effective if given intravenously within 3 hours of stroke symptom onset, but it should be used only after a physician has confirmed that the patient has suffered an ischemic stroke. Thrombolytic agents can increase bleeding and therefore must be used only after careful patient screening...."

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/detail_stroke.htm

PADANG MUDSLIDES IN PICTURES

2005-09-16T18:46:00.000+07:00

Bukit Gado2 house filled by mud and rock slide

Digging for bodies in Teluk Bayur

Windi happy to get her school package

Mud flooded this Bukit Gado2 house

Jenny Crake preparing school supply packages

Jane talking to Windi (9) who was burried for an hour.

Air Manis children manage to look clean in the midst of all the mud and debris

Air Manis Road damage

Teluk Bayur landslide 25 died.

LA POWER FAILURE SHUTS DOWN ELM WEB SITE

2005-09-13T20:46:00.000+07:00

How Los Angeles Lost Power

The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 13, 2005; 12:03 AM

LOS ANGELES -- The power outage that affected more than 2 million people in and around Los Angeles on Monday was triggered by an unlikely source: A utility crew installing a system upgrade.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers cut several cables incorrectly, slicing the thin wires as a group, rather than one at a time, said Ed Miller, director of Power System Operations and Maintenance for the department. That triggered a short and tripped circuit breakers.

The surge in electricity to the remaining lines overloaded the system and caused a shutdown at the power receiving station where the DWP employees were working. The station converts high voltage power from area generating stations to low voltage power used by businesses and residents.

The systemwide alert prompted two generating stations and other receiving stations to shut down as well. As a result, the department began "shedding" customers, cutting power to people across the city to stabilize lines.

Media Temple announced that their back-up power also failed due to "operator error" and this shut down their entire server. Many other server companies has similar problems.

Co-incidental threats of attacks on LA and Melbourne by Al Qaeda have been declared unrelated by US security officials.

NIAS & THE N.O. CONVENTION CENTER - SING TOGETHER - A NEW FIRST RESPONDERS TACTIC

2005-09-12T17:48:00.000+07:00

BBC News - crowd at the stadium

Birdie wrote earlier today:
I am in Los Angeles, working at Paramount Studios (the MTV/VH-1 Katrina benefit was staged there yesterday).

A few days after Katrina ROARED in the Gulf Coast....

I was at my desk at Paramount, and I had the transmission feed on, coming from the stage where they tape "The Insider" an Entertainment Tonight spin-off show. I saw footage of Harry Connick, Jr come on - and he was walking down an abandoned Canal Street in New Orleans.

It was either Wednesday or Thursday. The thousands of people who had been asked to evac to the Convention Center in downtown N.O, were now VERY hungry and thirsty and had been promised over and over that help was coming and yet, no one was showing up. They were starting to get agitated and were chanting "We Need Help!!"

I knew that there were buses getting people out of the Superdome and they COULD send buses there - but - they weren't.....I surveyed the crowd....old, women, disabled, children, hippies, mostly black and/or poor.

I quickly put it together that "the authorities" were afraid of mob scenes breaking out over anyone coming in with food/water or transport and put all on hold until they had armed escorts.

Remember the scene on - wasn't it western Nias - when, because they had been ignored for so long, the villagers were extra anxious to get supplies and a few of the men had been drinking Palm Wine - creating a bad mix - desperate and unruly?

Well....I remembered it and my attention returned to Harry Connick, jr famed New Orleans singer/performer....now alking the streets of N. O with a camera crew.

I picked up the phone and got a line right to one of the producers for "The Insider" - I told her I had just seen the Harry Connick, Jr feed come in - that I needed to get a message to him and the media crew on the ground with him. I relayed the story about the "unruly mob" in Nias, which sent the relief workers into retreat and how they were able to come back and get the villagers to sit down, and start singing their traditional songs - and that it calmed them down, and then, they were able to come back and get the aid delivered, in a orderly fashion.

She asked if the group was "Surf Aid International" and I said no, but that SAI had stayed with my friend, Rick (at ELM headquarters) and that they were involved with the same over-all group of surfers. She could have been a surfer. Anyway.....

I said that I needed Harry to get people to start singing....at The Convention Center, on the buses, at the hospitals....and she said like what? "America the beautiful?" and I said "No, "AMAZING GRACE" or traditional New Orleans songs....

Anyway, the two of us composed an email on the spot and whoosh......off it went to the team in N.O.

I was so grateful I had connected with such a SMART AWARE producer!!!

She totally got that it could help save lives....getting everyone to SIT DOWN and SING.

It would calm the crowd down but also....make them look completely non-threatening to obviously freaked out overwhelmed first responders who were hearing about gunfire, snipers, looting.....and a very large anxious crowd.

The message did get to Harry....and the media crews wound up finding nurses singing at Charity Hospital "we love you, we need you to survive" who had been tending to patients around the clock for over 5 days with power, plumbing and supplies....UNBELIEVABLE.

But more importantly, I want you all to know that "The Insider" got Aaron Neville to sing "AMAZING GRACE" as an exclusive, the very next night, and.....he performed it on the Hurricane Relief show that Harry Connick, Jr organized - as the closing song... the next day, MSNBC had a whole montage of clips that ran to Aaron's recorded version of "Amazing Grace"....and there was footage of people standing, where their church once was, maybe it was at Waveland (it was just a slab of concrete)....singing "Amazing Grace"....

A few more days went by....Faith Hill (country singer) was on the ground at a shelter and one of the evac's asked her to sing...."AMAZING GRACE" and it was run on "The Oprah" show.

I've been digging through my mails trying to find the original mails from Rick regarding the crowds in Nias and how that was handled....with the singing.

I have to tell you guys that the SIT DOWN and SING tactic NEEDS to be taught to FIRST RESPONDERS.... EVERYWHERE.

Often, that is LOCAL Law Enforcement, Red Cross, and FEMA. But, I think that the Red Cross needs to take up the charge, and, be in-charge of training not only their staff but to get the word out to police, hospital, church, and other community groups that can be in the position of being first responders.

I was only able to get through to the media and performers.

At this point....crowd control is no longer an issue, and I want to stay out of the way of what needs to be dealt with NOW...

But, I am mulling over how to proceed, in terms of getting the word out to the first responder community....maybe a call to Larry King on CNN...calls to the Red Cross....

I cannot express HOW important a TOOL for first responders this is....

Rick - if you have the original mails or more to add - please provide them so that I can forward them.

Your story needs to get to the Red Cross and FEMA.... Birdie

Thanks Birdie - (have edited your text slightly for clarity).

YOU made this happen and you probably saved a bunch of lives and a lot of pain. Amazing! See Associated Press carried a story about volunteers with bullhorns singing "Amazing Grace" to crowds waiting for transport this morning! http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68833,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5
Rick

MOST AUST. TSUNAMI AID NOT REACHING ACEH

2005-09-08T10:46:00.000+07:00

Most Australian Government tsunami aid not reaching Aceh, World Bank says

The World Bank says that only a small amount of the Australian Government's official aid for Aceh in the wake of the tsunami is actually going to the people of Aceh.

Joe Leitman, the World Bank's manager of a multi-donor trust fund for Aceh and Northern Sumatra, says the Australian Government has decided instead to fund education projects across Indonesia.

Mr Leitman says half of Australia's billion dollar donation was made up of loans, which the Indonesian Government does not specifically need for Aceh because of the amount of grant money available.

"The remainder will go to pursue broader strategic interests of the Indonesian and Australian governments throughout Indonesia," he said.

"So it's really maybe an eighth of the initial pledge that will actually go to the people of Aceh."

EMS CALL FOR BOATS TO HELP HURRICANE RESCUE EFFORTS

2005-09-07T17:46:00.000+07:00

Posted: 12:21 p.m. ET
CNN's Fran Fifis at the New Orleans Airport

Joe Bradshaw from Kentucky EMS (on scene command for search and rescue off Interstate 10) says "we need boats." Bradshaw says 80 boats rescued 28 people on Sunday and 18 people and three dogs on Monday. He says they have plenty of medical personnel today, but only 10 boats. Their goal is to put a doctor on every boat.

Joe,

I am writing to you from Padang on the west coast of Sumatra. We have been cut off by landslides that took out our power and phones last week and have just got back on line to learn more about the hurricane aftermath in your area. Hope this gets to you but understand if you are flat out with rescue efforts.

Saw an article about your call for more boats in the news.

We faced a somewhat similar situation in the days after the Aceh tsunami.
Our solution was to hire an old floating casino (ex harbour ferry) and set it up with beach landing boats, aid and medical teams. We made sure we had a sat phone with internet connection on board to ensure good co-ordination with others.

My partner Jane and I had no previous disaster experience but we could not stand watching the big agencies and the government drag their feet while people were suffering. ELM started from nothing on the 26th of December and never had a problem keeping our ship flat out helping people. Ended up staying in Aceh and Nias for almost 5 months.

Our time in the field convinced us that boats supported by a mothership is the most effective way to bring support and keep it in place. Choppers can take out the sick and injured but you cant beat having people on the ground in boats to check every house for survivors or those in desperate need. We delivered over 650tons of aid and treated over 7,300 victims of the quakes and tsunamis. Along with our partners University Volunteers International, we have hosted over 200 volunteer aid workers to date. In a word, our concept worked very well and could be applied in other disaster areas.

From what little I can see via the internet, Florida air boats would be the best water vehicles for the job. Outboard boats are second choice but you will have a lot of prop fouling to deal with. Not sure if you can get shallow draft casino boats up rivers or canals as don't have maps and not sure of bridges down etc.

If we can help with practical advice please let me know. I am avail on my mobile number 24/7

Rick Cameron ELM Mission Co-ordinator - Padang, West Sumatra

PADANG LANDSLIDES

2005-09-07T07:01:00.000+07:00

25 People are now confirmed dead and several are still missing in the Padang landslides. ELM are helping kids with school supplies in the area. About 25 houses have been desroyed or heavily damaged. Roads in the area are now open to light traffic, power is back on and hopefully the phone will be later today.

PADANG FLOODS

2005-09-02T11:14:00.000+07:00

Padang has received heavy rain and subsequent flooding and landslides. Reports of up to 50 families missing in Teluk Bayur area in big landslide. The ELM headquaters and surrounding areas have lost all communications and are running on backup power. Many roads have been cut by landslides and heavy rain. Reports that one helicopter has gone down and 6 have been lost.

All ELM staff are accounted for and are okay, contact via SMS is proving the most reliable at this stage and we can be reached on +62 815 3405 9018.

MENTAWAI QUAKES JOLT VISITING TSUNAMI WARNING GROUP

2005-09-01T11:53:00.000+07:00

Ancient chicken on a Chinese roof. In search of a new warning system

Wednesday - Two quake measuring 5.3 and 4.5 jolted Padang in the early hours of the morning. For some reason they did not trigger the normal automatic email to our server but the quakes are listed on the USGS web site today. By co-incidence ELM headquarters hosted lunch for 25 members of a UN sponsored delegation visiting Padang to discuss and review tsunami readiness in the area and to collaborate on the proposed Indian Ocean Tsunami warning system.

The group included:

Praveen Pardeshi - UN Inter-Agency Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), Switzerland

Dr Walter Mooney - Lead Co-ordinator for USGS activities related to the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System. California

Laura Kong - Director - International Tsunami Information Centre, Hawaii.

Dr Mooney shed some light on one of the mysteries that emerged after the Aceh tsunami. Many survivors mentioned a series of 3 extremely loud explosions that occurred just after the quake and before the tsunami. Some thought that underwater volanoes had erupted and others said that they thought underground gas had exploded. Dr Mooney believes that the explosions were most likely caused by a massive release of methane from ice bound compounds trapped for millenium in the depths of the ocean trenches in the vicinity of the rupture. The displacement of the sea bed and the heat released could have ignited the released gas spontaneously as the fault line ruptured.

I did not think to ask at the time but it could be possible that the explosions occurred at the sea bed or underwater and the expansion of gas may help explain the enormous scale of the tsunamis. For this to happen, Oxygen would have to be present in the gas released. It is unlikely to be the reason behind the burns we observed and the many accounts of very hot and oily black water in the second wave. Could it be possible that there was localized venting of subterranian hydrocarbon pockets heated by the stresses released by the quake?

Dr Mooney also discussed the complexity of relying on strange animal behavior as a quake precusor to watch for. He recounted visiting China where officials and scientists were very proud that they evacuated a city just before a devastating quake. Dr Mooney was observing graphs of statistics gathered prior to the quake and saw one line jump just hours before the quake hit. "Yes", the Chinese officials confirmed, "that line represents the number of chickens on the roof reported by residents in the area".

Perplexed at why chickens on the roof might be significant, Dr Mooney asked the obvious question. One Chinese official looked a little annoyed that a World class scientist would need to ask such an obvious question but he patiently explained.... "Because they were afraid of the snakes" as though he were speaking to a rather dull student.

"Snakes?" Dr Mooney was now completely lost.

The Chinese official shook his head in disbelief. "Yes, the snakes all came out of their holes because the water table rose and flooded their burrows" came the now slightly impatient reply.

PADANG EARTHQUAKE CONFERENCE CONFIRMS HIGH RISK OF NEW MEGA QUAKE

2005-08-29T14:16:00.000+07:00

Declaration of Participants in the International Conference on the Sumatran Earthquake Challenge

Padang, West Sumatra, August 28, 2005

For the past three days an international group of earthquake scientists and engineers has met to discuss earthquake hazards in western Sumatra. They reported results from their studies of the recent earthquakes and tsunamis in North Sumatra and Aceh provinces as well as their studies of the earthquake hazards of West Sumatra. Specific recommendations for reducing earthquake and tsunami risks are being sent to governmental and other organizations.

Summary of Scientific Knowledge

It is clear from several investigations that the giant earthquakes of December 2004 and March 2005 were caused by sudden rupture of the Sumatran megathrust fault beneath the islands of Nias and Simeulue and west of mainland Aceh. Rupture of the megathrust caused the islands and surrounding seafloor to jump upward and toward the Indian ocean as much as ten meters. During the earthquakes, the west coast of Aceh and North Sumatra sank one half to one meter. Uplift of the seafloor caused the tsunamis that struck the coasts after the earthquake.

Similar earthquakes struck the Mentawai islands and the coasts of West Sumatra and Bengkulu province in 1797 and 1833. Uplift of the seafloor around the Mentawai islands during those earthquakes caused large tsunamis that struck the mainland coast. Estimates of tsunami heights, from historical reports and scientific calculations, range as high as ten meters. Preliminary calculations suggest that hundreds of thousands of people would be severely affected by a future giant earthquake and tsunami in West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces.

No one is able to predict scientifically to the nearest day, week or even year when a great West Sumatran earthquake and tsunami will strike next. But the scientific evidence strongly suggests it will occur within the lifetimes of most young people living along the coast today -- such earthquakes occur about every two centuries and the last occurred 172 and 208 years ago. It is very unlikely that any valid prediction will be more specific than this, but we are hopeful that in the long term there will be improvements in forecasting the timing and nature of future large earthquakes. Scientific measurements show that strains now accumulating will culminate in the occurrence of a giant West Sumatran earthquake. During this future great earthquake, the Mentawai islands will behave like Nias and Simeulue did recently – they will rise suddenly a meter or more. The mainland coast of West Sumatra and Bengkulu province will experience the same sort of sinking as the west coasts of North Sumatra and Aceh – about one half to one meter. This will lead to substantial permanent coastal changes affecting infrastructure and, hence, peoples’ livelihoods.

What has already been done to prepare?

Specialists from Japan, Indonesia and the US reported that preparation for eventual earthquake and tsunami disasters can greatly reduce loss of life and property. Among useful activities are the evacuation simulations that have begun in Padang and distribution of educational materials to communities at risk from earthquake shaking and tsunami inundation. Infrastructural changes such as the adoption of better construction practices could ensure that bridges are still usable after severe shaking and tsunami inundation. Efforts to establish a tsunami early-warning system for coastal Indian-ocean communities are also underway through BMG.

Several scientists reported plans for research that will help understand better the nature of the earthquake and tsunami hazard to coastal communities in West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces. Marine geologic and geophysical studies will lead to a bettere understanding of the undersea faults that produce big earthquakes. Studies of small earthquakes in the coming months and years will help to pin down that section of the megathrust that is currently locked and that will eventually break to produce big earthquakes. Better topographic maps of the coastal regions and better bathymetric maps of the seafloor will enable more reliable estimates of areas that will be flooded by future tsunamis. Studies of the evidence left by ancient earthquakes and tsunamis will also help in this regard. Such estimates will aid in long-term urban planning aimed at reducing loss of life, property and productivity.

Recommendations to Indonesian research institutions

It is imperative that Indonesian governmental agencies support the continuation and expansion of earthquake and tsunami research efforts. Moreover, we support the ongoing efforts of LIPI, BPPT, BMG, BRKP-DKP, ESDM, Bakosurtanal, ITB and other Indonesian universities to attract substantially greater funding from foreign sources to facilitate research on this challenge. Successful research efforts with other nations will help greatly in understanding Sumatra’s earthquake and tsunami challenge. We are particularly supportive of collaborations with foreign scientists and governments that include provisions for sustainable improvements in the Indonesian scientific community and infrastructure.

Far more reliable maps of potential tsunami inundation are essential to the people of West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces. Better bathymetric and topographic maps and a better understanding of likely tsunami sources will be fundamental input to construction of these maps. Indonesian research institutions can play a critical role in accomplishing this goal.

It is essential that the efforts already begun by LIPI to provide educational materials to the citizens of West Sumatra be continued and expanded significantly. These materials have not yet reached many people in coastal West Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces. And many people who are still fearful of another great tsunami in North Sumatra and Aceh would benefit from better scientific information.

Currently, all eyes are focused on the potential for shaking and tsunami damage from future ruptures of the megathrust. Nonetheless, it is important that Sumatrans not neglect the risks posed by their other great fault, the Sumatran fault, which runs through the mountains, from Semanko Bay to Banda Aceh. For example, Banda Aceh will be more at risk from failure of that fault than from another earthquake and tsunami caused by the megathrust. In this particular case, what ground motions will likely result from rupture of this fault and what is the likelihood of their occurrence? Also, the specific location of the fault must be known so that new construction will not be placed across it.

Recommendations to governments and local organizations

The gradual, systematic reduction of potential loss of life, property and productivity should be a fundamental goal. This requires efforts in three areas: education, emergency response preparation and infrastructural change.

Education

Education is an extremely important avenue for the reduction of loss of life from tsunamis and earthquakes. For example, we commend ongoing local efforts in Padang and Air Bangis to establish procedures for the rapid and orderly evacuation of people from low-lying coastal regions after a great earthquake. We recommend that earthquake and tsunami education be incorporated into school curricula. These and other types of educational efforts must reach more of the at-risk populations and must be sustained over tens of years.

Emergency response preparedness

Access to regions affected by future large earthquakes and tsunamis will be critical to saving lives and property and re-establishing normalcy after the next great earthquake and tsunami. To ensure access, important bridges, roads, harbors and airports must be serviceable in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. For example, efforts must be undertaken to ensure that bridges and their approach embankments will survive the earthquake and tsunami. Lessons learned from Aceh will be valuable in this regard. In the case of bridges, the use of shear keys to prevent lateral separation of bridges from their abutments. Roads farther inland are more likely to survive tsunami inundation. The airport authorities should have plans to ensure the viability of their facilities after disasters. For example, equipment should be available to immediately clear tsunami debris from runways. For the most critical harbor facilities, tsunami countermeasures should be implemented.

Emergency response plans should be developed, reviewed and exercised periodically prior to disasters, at all levels of organization. These plans should include such things as the practicalities of initial entrance into a tsunami-inundation zone. The existence of a tsunami early-warning system is intended to serve to inform local governments when it is safe to return to low-lying areas.

Infrastructural changes

Survival from large tsunamis and earthquakes will require a complex approach. Viability of water-supply pipelines and sewage systems is critical in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Therefore the vulnerability of water pipes both above- and below-ground needs special attention. For example, water pipes running along bridges should be adequately attached to structural members of the bridge. Also, adequate burial of underground pipes will ensure their survival.

Another activity should be the evaluation of the use of existing tall buildings as vertical evacuation structures. The use of pile-deck structures in hard-to-evacuate districts, as in Japan, should also be considered. Special attention should be paid to the construction of new mosques as vertical evacuation structures.

Floatable structures such as storage tanks and barges may need to have drift-prevention measures.

Establishment of evacuation routes and plans have already begun in Padang and Air Bangis. These efforts should continue to completion.

Precise pre-disaster surveys of property boundaries would help in post-disaster recovery.

Lessons learned from the recent great earthquakes and tsunamis regarding building codes and code enforcement should be implemented throughout the earthquake and tsunami prone regions of Sumatra. Additionally, since many buildings are built without formal compliance to building codes, better dissemination of earthquake- and tsunami-resistant building practices need to be promulgated. Many lessons from the Aceh disaster will be useful here.

MATTHEW FLINDERS GIRLS COIN RACE RAISES $1,300

2005-08-23T19:32:00.000+07:00

One of the Nias schools supported by ELM - SMP Negeri 2 - Lahusa
Matthew Flinders support will help us continue our work

Dear Chris,
I'm a student at Matthew Flinders, Mr Barlow asked me, as multicultural captain, to send you a little report about what our coin race involved. He should be sending photos, hopefully.
Thankyou.
Andrea

The global and national response that the tsunami generated in support for affected areas was phenomenal, money poured out of pockets immediately, and yet it is unfortunate that more is needed. As a school we felt that our funds would be better directed towards a specific area; and that would be in assisting a school.

To get people actively involved in this fundraiser we put together a coin race, an event that had been successful in a previous year to raise money for East Timor. In their form groups the girls collected as much money as they could before the day of the race. The idea was that they would line up their coins and the class with the longest line would win. Incentive being of course that all money raised would be going to a more than worthy cause as the girls were eager to have a hand in helping out.

With entertainment provided over the lunchtime race by the school band Sweethearts the coins were lined up and the winning class was 8E with 53.26 metres. Altogether more than $1300 was raised. We thank the school for their generosity and hope that the money raised will help support the work that is being done by Electric Lamb in schools.

Andrea Warren
Multicultural Captain
Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College Geelong.

ZACH SHIELDS ON-LINE DOCUMENTARY - FIELD REPORT

2005-08-20T17:13:00.000+07:00

Four days after I arrived in Padang a trip to Nias Island was organized and a team of 5 volunteers set off for the Gomo District of the Island.

My goal was to conduct interviews with teachers, students, doctors and other citizens in the villages to find out what their primary concerns and needs are at the current time and for the future. Ali Nudin, a key member of ELM was vital for translation and helping to conduct interviews. We spent most of our time in central Gomo but also traveled to Siraha, Siphalago Soussoua and finally to Sirombu on the West Coast.

The primary concerns of most of the citizens we talked to is that help is becoming almost non-existent as time goes on and they are being left to fend for themselves unless small NGO’s like ELM can return to help. Hati, a high school teacher in Gomo, said “We were behind before the earthquakes but now we are even further behind and it will take a long time to get back to where we were as a community before.”

People in the villages within Gomo are scared and tired since the earthquakes. We got footage of a funeral for three victims of a landslide 4km from central Gomo. We also spoke to the father of a young burn victim in Siphalago Soussoua pleading for help because his daughter has no way to receive proper medical treatment. With this footage and much more I hope that it can serve as a gateway for people to become more aware of the problems these areas are facing and that it is not limited to the areas we visited but many more as well.

After we returned from Nias the team quickly organized a trip to the Mentawai Islands. This time we traveled with another Australian volunteer, Mike Frood, who along with Ali was key in helping to conduct interviews. Most of our work took place on Siberut where we visited Malilimoh, Torolagahgok, and Taileleu. These villages received far less damage then Nias but their greatest concern was their ability to protect against earthquakes and tsunamis in the future. The communication and healthcare nowhere near adequate for such a high-risk area and the villagers are aware of this.

We conducted interviews with the village heads and secretaries of each of the villages along with others including doctors and teachers in the area. Most of the interviews included stories of the fear people feel presently as the threat of another disaster looms. Some people in Malilimoh are still living in the mountains months later to protect themselves from a tsunami. We have footage of makeshift braces people have attached to their homes in case of another earthquake and distant shots of the shelters in the mountains.

This video will compliment the Nias trip so that people can see there are other areas West of Sumatra that are in need of better healthcare and better communication after the tsunami to protect from any further damage.

The online documentary is going well and my project partner Chris Podell is working in the US to give us a jump start to start the post-production phase. With the help of UVI and ELM the online documentary will be a relevant and ongoing project to help raise awareness of the affected regions of Sumatra.

A final trip to Simeulue is being organized and I will provide further information upon completion of the trip.

"DAILY PILOT" NEWS STORY ON UVI

2005-08-08T13:15:00.000+07:00

Students mobilize more tsunami relief

College friends say they're determined to stay active in aid work when victims need them the most.

By Elia Powers, Daily Pilot

The news crews, civilian volunteers and aid workers have slowly departed from the devastated areas of Southeast Asia, where throngs of people continue to live without means after December's tsunami.

Michael Simonoff (in photo) and Phillip Bailey have returned from their trips, as well.

But the two college friends said they are determined to stay active in relief work at a time when disaster victims need them the most.

"There are so many people still without housing," said Simonoff, 21, a Costa Mesa High School graduate. "If there were a few hundred thousand people in the United States who were homeless after this kind of disaster, there would be more of an uproar."

Simonoff's discontent is overshadowed these days by his willingness to help steer a long-term relief project run by and for college students.

When the tsunami struck, Simonoff was at home in Southern California. Bailey, his friend from the University of Arizona, was vacationing in Florida with his two brothers.

"We got the feeling that this could have been our beach," Bailey said. "Our idea was to find a realistic way we could help the victims. I thought, there is no organization that helps students to volunteer."

That was the genesis of University Volunteers International, an organization comprising college students across the country and in Sweden.

Bailey, 20, a founding member, approached Simonoff and his friend, former Costa Mesa resident Alexander Stimson, in early January about heading overseas.

It took the group nearly two months to mobilize, but in early March, after setting up an independent study program through the University of Arizona, they left for Sumatra.

The students joined forces with the Electric Lamb Mission, an international volunteer group headed by former professional surfer Rick Cameron. The organization uses converted ferry boats to deliver aid to remote areas hit by the tsunami........ more

NIAS REPORT - ELM NURSERY STARTED

2005-08-07T17:30:00.000+07:00

Report by Jenni Middleton and Patti Rock - (Arrived at Padang on July 17)

While waiting for our field mission, it was decided to work on a nursery. The clearing of an area at Jane and Rick’s property (the ELM office) had already commenced. After burning and tidying up the area, potting bags, soil and potting mix were purchased., and the filling of bags commenced.

A variety of suitable plants that will provide food and income for the people of Aceh were selected:-

Petai (bean) seeds were collected, soaked for two days and planted
Coklat (chocolate} seedlings were transplanted
“Cherry” tree cuttings were taken and small seedlings also transplanted
Avocado seeds planted

All of the above have taken very well with a 95% success rate.
Future plantings of bamboo and other fruit and vegetables are planned.
This is an ongoing project which will benefit many families.

We travelled to Nias (ELM base at Gomo District) where we gave away the aid we had to a small isolated village. People are all very friendly and happy, however, traumatized and very poor. Many families sleeping in tents and earthquake damaged buildings untouched - as though the quake was yesterday….

Aid distributed included - cooking utensils, torches, toys, toiletries, clothing, bedding, tarpaulins, coloured pencils, crayons and books.

With the donated monies we had it was recommended by the leader of the community Dr Aranifasa Laia that it would be more beneficial to sponsor a student through University - registration fees, accommodation and living expenses - than to purchase Aid for a few.

Yakin Kasih Telaumbanua was selected. He is one of four children who have lost their parents. He will be studying Teaching at Ikip Gunung Sitoli University and on completion will return to his village to support his family.

The donated monies covered his registration and university fees and approximately six months accommodation and living expenses. Extra sponsorship will be required to cover his five year course which we will follow up on our return.

By cleaning up the site around the volunteers camp we encouraged the children to dispose of rubbish correctly. This was a successful way of teaching general hygiene which they were keen to be part of.

On our return trip we stopped at the Lahusa School where we donated pens, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, crayons, colored pencils and exercise books.

QUAKE WARNINGS DOWNGRADED - 13 QUAKES IN OUR AREA

2005-08-06T08:42:00.000+07:00

Mr Deyo's warning for West Coast US has been downgraded.

There was a 4.6 magnitude quake off Oregon yesterday.

In the greater Indonesia/Nicobar/Papua area the warning period is now downgraded.
There were 13 quakes during the warning period in the 3 areas of concern that roughly can be described as West, Central and East Indonesia. None of the quakes exceeded 6.0 although 8 exceeded 5.0. None caused any damage. Clearly the warning was justified in this area.

2005/07/31 12:18 M 5.1 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

2005/07/31 12:37 M 5.1 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

2005/07/31 22:06 M 5.3 SULAWESI, INDONESIA

2005/08/01 13:17 M 4.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

2005/08/02 00:59 M 4.8 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

2005/08/02 03:51 M 4.9 MOLUCCA SEA

2005/08/02 08:39 M 5.6 SERAM, INDONESIA

2005/08/02 11:33 M 5.2 FLORES SEA

2005/08/02 17:38 M 4.6 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA

2005/08/03 10:41 M 5.9 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA

2005/08/03 23:43 M 5.5 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION

2005/08/04 09:26 M 5.9 PAPUA, INDONESIA

2005/08/04 21:10 M 4.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

Clearly this was a period of intense seismic activity with quake frequency far greater than in the preceeding month. We will be monitoring Mr Deyo's web site maps.

3 QUAKES IN INDONESIAN TARGET AREAS SO FAR

2005-08-02T17:29:00.000+07:00

Since Stan Deyo's warning yesterday, USGS have recorded 3 significant quakes in the three areas in Indonesia identified as being at high risk. None caused damage or tsunamis and all were less than magnitude 6.0

Region SULAWESI, INDONESIA Magnitude 5.3
Date-Time Sunday, July 31, 2005 at 22:06:53 (UTC)= Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, August 1, 2005 at 6:06:53 AM= local time at epicenter
Location 0.063°S, 123.750°E
Depth 95.8 km (59.5 miles) set by location program

Region WEST COAST SUMATRA Magnitude 4.9

Padang residents felt a substantial shake about 2017 last night. I was driving in the car and did not notice. Friends told me.... they were rather excited since they had just read the warning. The epicentre was just west of Nias.

Now this one:
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake IN BANDA SEA has occurred at:
4.01S 128.81E Depth 22km Tue Aug 2 08:39:54 2005 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Tue Aug 2 08:39:54 2005
Time Near Epicenter Tue Aug 2 17:39:54 2005

These 3 quakes can not yet be considered proof that Mr Deyo's predictions are ready for public consumption but this result adds credence to the theory that thermal anomolies are linked to seismic activity . Since the target areas suggested have recently been highly active, there is a correspondingly high likelyhood that a quake will occur in any one of them during an given 72 hr period. The chance of a quake occuring all three is, however, a lot lower.

The warning period extends for another 48 hrs. ELM has asked Mr Deyo to pay close attention to our operations area. ELM's Nias field team are returning to Padang tonight.

QUAKE WARNING US & SUMATRA WEST COASTS NEXT 72 HRS - RADICAL NEW SYSTEM PUT TO TEST

2005-08-01T17:54:00.000+07:00

A quake warning has just come in from a researcher based in Colorado. Stan Deyo is first to admit that his method is new, un-proven and subject to data corruption from the Navy source charts. All the same, this is not a joke and a high proportion of recent quakes have shown up as thermal signatures several days before rupture. Stan says he is getting better at picking events before they happen but that local weather can cause false readings or obscure areas that are at high risk. Two areas worry Stan at this point. West Coast US (looks very large) and West Coast Sumatra (6-7 on the Richter scale). Time frame = 72 hrs

We have alerted friends and family in our vicinity to be especially careful until the thermal anomalies dissipate or clarify as seismic or weather related. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WARNING IS NOT CONDONED BY THE US GOVERNMENT OR NAVY.