New Quake Leaves Indonesians Distrustful Of Government

by Baradan Kuppusamy

(IPS) -- "The government told us the next earthquake is 150 years away if at all. But, look, we have one big one every 100 days and many smaller ones everyday," said Rusli Gege, 72, owner of Lagundri Holiday Cottage, now abandoned and left to rot under the sun and rain.

"We don't trust the government anymore," he told IPS. "Everybody here feels the same," said the guesthouse owner, who has taken shelter on a hill.

Fear is palpable and hangs heavily in the air everywhere in this island of 700,000 people. Nearly every village and town including the capital, Gunung Stoli, has been devastated by the earthquake measuring 8.7, which struck at about midnight on Mar. 29.

Anything made of brick and mortar or concrete -- houses, buildings, bridges, churches, schools, mosques and community halls have collapsed or are so severely damaged that they have to be pulled down. UN officials say that soon there will be nothing left standing on the island -- which once was a thriving trading centre for rubber, copra, cocoa and seafood.

Over 600 bodies have been recovered and twice that number is believed to be buried under the rubble.

Scores of people -- old women, children and young men -- are huddled in makeshift sheds on the hill that overlooks the Indian Ocean. The views are spectacular with the majestic surfs rushing ashore. But not a single tourist is in sight to ride the world-renowned giant waves on their surfboards.

The houses and cottages that dot the beach and until recently crowded with people, are all now empty.

"The people have all fled either to mainland Sumatra or up the hills like us here,' Rusli said. "We are too afraid to even walk on the beach."

For the living, coping up with the disaster is extremely difficult.

"Look we have had two big earthquakes and numerous smaller ones," said Yusuh Ansur, 37, who also owns a cottage for surfers on the beach. "We can't sleep in our houses because nearly every night there is not one but several aftershocks."

"It is unnerving...we don't when know when the roof will come down on us," he said. "Although the government says it is safe, we feel it is not."

"That is why we are up here on the hill," he said adding the people living near beaches are prepared to abandon their homes and lifestyle and rebuild on higher ground and become hill farmers.

Added Aminah, his 36-year-old wife, pregnant with the couple's first child: "It is not worth it to be dead under rubble or to be swept into the sea and eaten by fish."

For many people, not only on the island but also on mainland Sumatra, the frequent aftershocks are a major cause for worry.

The fear is more then for just their personal safety. They also are deeply worried that their God has forsaken them and seriously question whether they are wanting in their personal or communal life.

Nearly every church and mosque on the island has either collapsed or severely damaged. The crash of an Australian helicopter killing nine aid workers added to the fear of divine retribution. The frequent aftershocks are seen as a reminder that God is still angry.

"For what reason have we been hit this hard and so frequently?" asked farmer Avo Sebastian.

The tents, erected outside nearly every house on this earthquake-stricken island, are testimony of how widespread the fear has gripped the people.

Doors and windows of their houses are left open for easy escape during the day as the residents go about their daily life. At every aftershock they rush out screaming and in fear. At night they sleep out in the open under tents.

"Nobody wants to sleep inside their houses anymore," said Avo.

"Look how horribly Kok Chian and Gomu died," he said referring to two wealthy Nias businessmen who between them owned the economy of the island.

Some of the island's best known and most wealthy citizens -- mostly rich Chinese business men loved for their philanthropy -- lie buried under the rubble of their palatial homes in the city and major towns. The unbearable stench of rotting flesh greets anyone passing the rubble, reminding passersby of the unpredictability of life.

"The total psychological impact of the death and destruction on the survivors is really tremendous," said Scott Wooleary, a senior World Health Organization official, who's racing to get damaged hospitals ready to receive the injured villagers. "The psychological damage is deep and very long term."

"Fear is not easily eradicated...not with so many aftershocks to remind villagers of what had happened and what can happen," he said.

The burden of living is all the more heavy for the homeless survivors, the aged and the most vulnerable like odd job worker Onojitoli Siforasi, 57. He cooked his last bowl of rice just before the earthquake struck and now survives on instant noodles provided by Oxfam, the British aid organization.

His ramshackle hut was destroyed and he lives with a dozen other homeless people in a tent provided by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

"I don't know what is going to happen to me...how long I will be here and what is the future," he said.

Onojitoli's plight is typical of many villagers in this earthquake devastated island in Northern Sumatra.

First they were disposed by the Dec. 26 earthquake and the giant tsunami that followed. Then after several weeks of burying their dead and mourning their loses they began rebuilding their homes and returning to the sea in new and repaired boast, only to be hit hard by the Mar. 29 earthquake.

"The villagers have suffered two massive blows. Over 120,000 are homeless," said Francois Desruisseauz, the UN head of relief operations here. "We are distributing rice, water, tinned fish and other supplies and soon have to plan for long term rehabilitation."

The series of earthquakes, seismologists say, indicates the region has entered an intensely unstable period.

John McCloskey, a professor in Northern Ireland's University of Ulster, argued in a paper published in the prestigious 'Nature' magazine, that the Dec. 26 quake had not relieved the stress on the tectonic plates in the area. He said that the chance of another major earthquake in the area was high. And sure enough the Mar. 29 earthquake struck Nias Island with ferocity.

"Lightning does strike twice," McCloskey wrote.

But for the villagers of Nias and surrounding islands, that sit on a fault line, the earthquakes and aftershocks are one too many. It will be along time before they regain their sense of security, if ever.