Indonesian youth clean up rubbles in their home destroyed by earthquake in Pariaman, coastal town about 40 miles northwest of Padang, West Sumatra

Authorities say the death toll from an earthquake in Indonesia is likely to pass 1,000 as underequipped rescue workers dig through rubble for survivors. And the Philippines is on alert as a new typhoon heads toward the islands days after Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 400 people there and in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

Indonesian rescue workers are digging by hand Friday, trying to find survivors among the hundreds of people believed trapped under piles of concrete.

Wednesday's earthquake struck off the coast of western Sumatra, with most of the damage in the city of Padang.

VOA's Jakarta correspondent, Brian Padden, has just arrived in Padang. He says the streets are busy with people and aid workers are pouring into the city.

"Just from the airport itself, it's like every third or fourth building we passed, there's serious damage, many have collapsed completely," he said. "Electricity is out everywhere. … There are long lines at gas stations, people are lined up with containers waiting to get the limited supply of gasoline that's here in the area."

Padden says the damage from Wednesday's quake is much worse than that from an earthquake in early September.

"In the last earthquake that hit Java, damage there was scattered, there'd be little pinpoints of damage. Here it seems everywhere, it's everywhere you look," he said.

Indonesia has asked for foreign aid to help with rescue efforts and support those affected by the 7.6 magnitude quake.

Numerous countries have offered assistance, including the United States, which pledged $3 million to help the quake victims.

Washington has also pledged aid for victims of a tropical storm that struck the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos this week. The storm killed more than 400 people in the region.

Typhoon Ketsana made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday, flooding parts of the capital, Manila and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

The Philippines is warning people to leave low-lying areas as another powerful typhoon nears.

In other natural disasters, the death toll from tsunami waves that hit the pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga is nearing 200.

2 October 2009

Typhoon Ketsana hit Cambodia on 29 September, causing widespread damage.




The situation

At least 15 people have been reported dead and about 10,000 families are in need of urgent humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana.

More than 30,000 hectares of rice crops are flooded and over 2,000 homes destroyed. Thousands of families are displaced and their livelihoods are badly affected.
The flood waters also took away many cattle, destroyed roads and other social infrastructure. The situation could be worse if other provinces are affected and humanitarian assistance is not delivered on time.
Donate now to the emergency response

Oxfam is there

We have sent in our relief teams to the four hard-hit areas: Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Stueng Treng and Kratie. Working closely with the government and other relief agencies, we have carried out an initial assessment of needs and have started distributing supplies.

Our planned £96,933 aid package is helping support families worst affected with basic essentials such as shelter, water, hygiene kits and mosquito nets.

Oxfam is also making additional purchases and coordinating to mobilise resources from other humanitarian agencies to help reach as many victims, and as quickly, as possible.

Flood levels continue to rise and more families are displaced. All humanitarian agencies should coordinate and act now to deliver food, clean water, sanitation and shelter to flood victims.

Francis Perez, Country Lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia

The head of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Victims Unit said Friday victims who wished to file complaints for the upcoming case against four jailed leaders of the regime should take care to file properly, to ensure speedy processing.

Some filings have included different names and dates of birth, which have delayed the process, chief of the unit Helen Jarvis said. Sometimes survivors changed their names and dates, and “this is something we have to take into account,” she said.

Hong Kimsuon, a lawyer for civil parties, said the names were indeed different for many people from one regime to the next.

The UN-backed tribunal is preparing for the case against four leaders: chief ideologue Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith.

The Victims Unit has asked that complaints by civil parties be filed by mid-November, as the first tribunal trial, for prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, draws to a close.

“Over recent months, the Victims Unit has played a greater role in assessing completeness and internal consistency of applications made, in order to reduce delays associated with such deficiencies at later stages of the process,” Jarvis said.