Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on a national support to emergency measures of coping with the aftermath of the quake which hit Bengkulu with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale on Wednesday at 18:10 local time.
"The president has instructed the people`s welfare coordinating minister, the military (TNI) chief, the national police chief and his subordinates to prepare emergency measures of providing humanitarian aid to the quake victims," presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng said here on Wednesday evening.
Andi said that the president is constantly monitoring the situation in Bengkulu either through the governor of the province and the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.
"The president received information from the field on the quake which had killed one person when a building collapsed. To handle the victims killed and injured in the disaster, the president called for a quick handling of the victims," Andi said.
According to him, the president had yet to decide whether to visit the quake-stricken region for a close look at the aftermath of the disaster, especially the victims.
The president had also instructed some ministers to immediately monitor the aftermath of the quake and provide humanitarian aid to the victims.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Air Force has prepared two of its giant cargo aircraft Hercules C 130 to help cope with the strong earthquake measured at 7,9 on the Richter Scale which hit Bengkulu on Wednesday evening.
"We have yet to decide on the departure of the aircraft, but we have already prepared some of them," Operations Chief of the Halim Perdanakusumah airbase Flight Colonel Gutomo said here Wednesday night.
"We are still waiting for instructions and relief aid to be flown to Bengkulu and to some other cities which had also been damaged by the strong tremor," Gutomo said.
A spokesman for the Sriwijaya Military Command, Lt Col Nurdin, said that he was still awaiting detailed reports on the post-quake situation in Padang, West Sumatra.
"Contact between us and security personnel in the field is still cut off due to disrupted telephone lines," he said.
However, his side had taken the necessary anticipative measures of preparing emergency tents and a field hospital for the quake-ridden area.
The tremor`s epicenter was located 159 kilometers northwest of Bengkulu 4.67 degrees south latitude and 101.13 degrees east longitude. It struck at 6:10 p.m West Indonesian Time so violently that residents in Padang, Palembang, Lampung, and even part of Jakarta also felt it.
No comments:
Post a Comment