Earthquake hits Indonesia coast

World Vision emergency response team members are trying to assess the damage to the western part of Sumatra following a 7.6 Richter scale quake off the coast of Indonesia.

Telephone lines are currently down or overloaded making a rapid assessment of possible wide-scale destruction to the populated Padang area very difficult. 

The earthquake struck at 5.15 pm local time today. Early news reports said the quake destroyed scores of properties. No reports of casualties are immediately available.
 
“We are going to be attempting to fly out an assessment team tomorrow morning," said Jimmy Nadapdap, World Vision Indonesia’s Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Director. "It is critical that we get people into the quake zone as soon as possible to find out what has happened.  If buildings have collapsed then people are likely to be in urgent need of food, water and especially shelter.  The injured will also need medical assistance."

“What typically happens is that people become terrified of going back into their homes, especially if damaged, as there will be numerous aftershocks. Securing alternative shelter will be critical.”

This is the second quake World Vision has responded to in Indonesia within the last 30 days. On 2 September, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck West Java province killing some 100 people.
The epicentre of today's Sumatra quake is 33 kilometres from Padang.
 
The quake was also felt as far as Malaysia and Singapore, more than 300 kilometres away, as well as in the main cities in Sumatra and Medan in North Sumatra. People in the two cities fled from their houses and shopping centres.
 
Reports said the quake might cause massive damage to the towns close to the epicentre. There were also reports of fires and floods caused by broken pipes, as well as bridge collapses and the power has cut. Most destruction was reported to be in central Padang, with tremors lasting between five and six minutes.

September 30