The Padang Earthquake Shatters Settlements In History Today, September 30, 2009

JAKARTA - On September 30, 2009, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale rocked West Sumatra. The city of Padang is the most impacted area. The earthquake was even felt as far as Jabodetabek, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore.

According to data from the West Sumatra regional government quoted from Liputan 6, the earthquake in Padang City and its surroundings left 1,115 people dead and 2,329 others injured. In terms of material, as many as 279,000 buildings were damaged. Padang Pariaman became the city with the most fatalities, namely 675 people, followed by Padang City with 313 people, Agam with 80 people and Pariaman with 37 people.

The magnitude of the earthquake caused many buildings to collapse in the city of Padang, including government buildings. In addition, it was reported that as many as 65 old buildings including cultural heritage buildings in Padang were also damaged and collapsed. As a result of the collapse of buildings, many people who did not have time to save themselves died from being crushed by building debris or buried by landslides.

In addition to facing the fear of aftershocks, disaster victims have to face fear due to the darkness of the night due to power outages in all areas affected by the earthquake. Minangkabau Airport was also closed and reopened on October 1, 2009.

The disconnection of telephone lines due to the earthquake also made it difficult to communicate to the disaster area. This made information about how much damage caused by the earthquake was limited at that time. In terms of evacuating victims, the lack of heavy equipment to dismantle the rubble and heavy rains made it difficult for the evacuation team to search for victims.

According to a number of experts, the earthquake in West Sumatra, especially in Padang, was the location that was worst affected because the region was close to the intersection of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates. According to a report by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, the earthquake was centered at 0.84 south latitude (LS) and 99.65 east longitude (BT). Approximately 57 km northwest of Pariaman West Sumatra Province at a depth of 71 km

Citing the BBC, another report also explains that the Padang Earthquake occurred on the same plate as the plate that caused the Asian tsunami in 2004. At that time, more than 230,000 people in several Asian countries died as a result of the tsunami.

The second earthquake then occurred the next day. The earthquake occurred about 225 km southeast of Padang, to be precise in SungaiFull, Kerinci Regency, about 400 km from Jambi City. Several locations were reported to have suffered severe damage.

The Padang earthquake was the biggest earthquake in recent years at that time. In fact, the earthquake shock was stronger than the Yogyakarta Earthquake in 2006. This made many parties offer assistance, including foreign parties. At that time the Australian Government offered emergency assistance to Indonesia if needed.

Launching Detik, the Head of the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs and the Japanese Minister of Finance also visited the earthquake site. Their arrival is part of an inspection of post-earthquake recovery assistance.

UN Humanitarian Head John Holmes flew to Padang to meet local NGOs and government. Meanwhile, the then Japanese Finance Minister, Katsuya Okada, arrived at the site of the earthquake for medical assistance to be given in northern Padang.

In addition, the UK has also sent a team of search and rescue experts for disaster victims to assist in the search and evacuation process for victims. Britain sent as many as 60 people with special rescue equipment. Qatar also sent aid and a SAR team directly to the earthquake site in Padang to help with the evacuation.

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