. 24/7 Space News .
Indonesia starts massive tsunami clean-up as toll revised down

by Staff Writers
Pangandaran, Indonesia (AFP) Jul 23, 2006
Indonesia on Sunday started a massive operation to clear tsunami debris from the devastated south coast of Java island as officials revised the death toll down to 596.

Some 3,000 soldiers, police, local officials, volunteers and residents labored to clean up homes and streets in the hardest-hit areas, especially in the sleepy seaside resort town of Pangandaran, following last week's disaster.

Television reports showed masses of debris being burned in Pangandaran, as well as residents clearing up their destroyed homes and businesses.

A 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off Java on Monday, unleashing giant waves that swept away homes and businesses along the densely-populated coast, sparking memories of the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami.

According to the latest death toll issued by the national disaster agency, 439 people were killed in West Java province, 154 in Central Java and three in Yogyakarta.

Another 73 were still missing and more than 9,500 others injured following the tsunami, the agency said, without explaining why the toll had dropped by more than 50 from the previous day.

More than 74,000 people were displaced, mainly around Pangandaran, which bore the brunt of the tsunami.

But following the release of the new toll figures, local officials said at least four more bodies had been found in and around the town.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during a whirlwind visit to the disaster zone, on Friday ordered local authorities to speed up clearing the rubble and debris left by the receding waves.

Yudhoyono said the ruins and debris would otherwise continue to cause "psychological trauma" for the local population.

Officials said Sunday the clean-up effort was to last until August 3.

"As a follow up of the presidential instruction... authorities have set a time limit of two weeks from Saturday for the cleaning up operations," Wasdi bin Umri, spokesman for Ciamis district, told AFP.

"More reinforcements have since arrived from the surrounding district, bringing the total number of soldiers involved in the clean up and search operations to over 1,000," he said.

He said nearly 1,000 police were deployed in Ciamis to help, while the local administration had mobilized 300 personnel in addition to more than 600 volunteers.

Search efforts and clean-up operations were also continuing in neighbouring Cilacap district.

"We are mobilizing all our effective personnel, be that from the government, the armed forces, the military or volunteers, to clear up the coastline while at the same time searching for possible victims still buried under the sand or debris," said district spokesman Arismunandar.

Officials were trying to reassure frightened survivors living in special camps, afraid of another tsunami, that it was safe to return home, the spokesman said.

"We are spreading the message from the meteorology office which says that the number of aftershocks have been continuously dwindling from Monday and that there was no more danger of tsunami," he said.

The number of aftershocks had declined from 26 on the day of the tsunami to just one on Saturday, an official at the meteorology office was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying.

The tsunami is just the latest in a string of natural disasters to hit Indonesia over the past two years. Some 168,000 Indonesians died in the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Less than two months ago, Java was hit by a 6.3-magnitude quake that killed more than 5,800 people.

Related Links



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Strong earthquake sparks fresh tsunami alert in Indonesia
Jakarta (AFP) Jul 23, 2006
A 6.6 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi island sparked a tsunami alert and precautionary evacuations on Sunday, officials said.







  • Bigelow Spacecraft Carries NASA Genebox For Orbital Testing
  • NASA Seeks Master Developer For Kennedy Space Center Exploration Park
  • A Journey Of Space Discovery At The Farnborough International Air Show
  • Genesis Orbiting With No Problems

  • Mars Mission Lasts Well Past Sell-By Date
  • Spirit to Get New Robotic Capabilities as Martian Winter Turns to Spring
  • Beagle Crater Is Next Stop For Opportunity
  • MIT Team Envisions Exploring Mars With Mini Probes

  • MetOp-A Launch Delayed Indefinitely
  • MetOp-A Launch Delayed A Second Time
  • MetOp-A Launch Delayed A Second Time
  • Rocket Problems Delay MetOp-A Launch

  • Denver To Host International Remote Sensing Conference
  • Cardiff From Earth Space
  • DMCii Wins European Commission Contract For Agricultural Monitoring
  • Satellite Security Systems Wins 10 Year Air Quality Contract At Los Angeles Port

  • Nine Years To The Ninth Planet And Counting
  • IAU Approves Names For Two Small Plutonian Moons
  • Three Trojan Asteroids Share Neptune Orbit
  • New Horizons Crosses The Asteroid Belt

  • Special Case Stellar Blast Teaching Astronomers New Lessons About Cosmic Explosions
  • NASA Balloon Flight Successful At Esrange Space Center
  • Supernova Leaves Behind Mysterious Object
  • Chandra Spies Cosmic Fireworks

  • BAE and SSTL To Deliver Processor For Chandrayaan-1
  • SMART-1 Views Sulpicius Gallus
  • British Geek Wants To Buy Moon Plot With 1M-Pound Gameshow Jackpot
  • SMART-1 Giving Moon A Detailed New Look

  • Raytheon Completes Demonstration of Space-Based Navigation System in India
  • SENS Simplex Service Extends to Mexico
  • Cracking The Secret Codes Of The European Galileo Satellite Network
  • New Competitors Will Threaten Established Portable Navigation Device Vendors

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement