Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has declared an emergency response status for Bengkulu and Padang respectively for a week and three days following quakes that had rattled the two regions on Wednesday and Thursday.
The decision to that effect was made at a limited cabinet meeting chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base here on Thursday evening.
In the meeting which was also attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and a number of cabinet ministers it was reported that 10 people had so far been found killed in the disaster, namely six in Bengkulu and four in West Sumatra.
At a press conference after the meeting President Yudhoyono said he had told heads of the regions rocked by the quake who happened to be out of town or abroad to immediately return home to direct emergency response efforts.
"As aftershocks still continued, he called on residents in affected areas to remain alert. They must be in full alert while continuing their emergency response efforts and must not panic as operating procedures for dealing with natural disasters are already in place and trainings in dealing with disasters were about to be started," he said.
On the occasion the President also offered his condolences to the families and relatives of the quake victims and called for immediate attention to the injured.
He said although the tremors were quite strong, reports and results of inspections in the quake-ridden areas said the damage caused to the two affected regions was minimum, including the number of deaths.
He praised the people who had learnt a lesson from the quakes and tsunami in Aceh in 2004. "I heard that the local governments` response to the disaster and the swiftness of the people in seeking safety have been better. This deserves an appreciation. The results are good," he said.
In spite of the fact he said that the government would contine to improve the system of disaster handling including logistics supply, so that any disaster could be handled quickly by local governments and the central government would only help in case of a huge disaster.
Information minister Muhammad Nuh meanwhile said two islands namely Mentawai and Muko-Muko still remained isolated after the quake and telephone lines there had also been cut off so that the real situation in the areas was still not known.
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