CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE OFFICE
SITUATION REPORT:
INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE (SUMATRA)
June 5, 2000



SITUATION: At least 58 people are reported dead and at least 500 injured
-- more than half seriously -- from a Sunday (June 4) earthquake on the
western Indonesian island of Sumatra. The death toll is expected to rise,
authorities said.

Many more people are believed to be trapped by rubble, the BBC reported.
The quake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, could be felt nearly
300 miles away in the capitol of Jakarta. There has been no report of a
resulting tsunami, reports the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Authorities in Indonesia immediately
requested assistance in the form of surgical equipment and tents,
emergency medicines and medical personnel, OCHA reports. The worst-hit
area was the city of Bengkulu (pop. 150,000), 60 miles east of the quake's
epicenter. There, hundreds of buildings collapsed. Telephones, electrical
power and water supplies were seriously affected. The quake was one of the
most powerful earthquakes in recent Indonesian history.


CWS RESPONSE: CWS staff in Indonesia will assess damage to determine needs
and plan an appropriate response. Just last month, the CWS office in
Indonesia responded to another earthquake, on the island of Sulawesi. CWS
sent $25,000 in blanket funds to assist 5,000 survivors of that
earthquake.

Call the CWS HOTLINE for updates: (800) 297-1516, ext. 111.

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is
responding, contact CWS Emergency Response.

Telephone: (212) 870-3151
After-hours emergency pager: (800) 780-0853
Internet Web Site: http://www.ncccusa.org/CWS/emre
ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org


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