A Quick Update On Indonesia's Searchers and Survivors

A quick update on the situation in western Indonesia:

"Lost hamlets to become mass graves after huge quake"
Jakarta Post (October 5, 2009)

"West Sumatra decided Sunday to turn a hillside in Padang Pariaman regency, where three hamlets and hundreds of villagers were swallowed by landslides after a powerful earthquake, into mass graves, as hopes faded for more survivors.

" 'The decision on the mass grave was agreed today in a meeting with local leaders. There is little possibility of survivors and we are prioritizing those with a higher chance of survival,' said West Sumatra administration spokesman Dede Nuzul Putra in Padang, the provincial capital.

" 'The victims have been buried more than five days, it is unlikely they could survive.'

"The hamlets of Kapalo Koto, Cumanak and Lubuk Laweh in Patamuan district disappeared along with 400 people when the 7.6-magnitude quake hit West Sumatra last Wednesday, swallowing them up in a torrent of mud and rocks.

"The landslides produced an area of devastation at least five kilometers wide, making it difficult for rescuers to find the victims...." [emphasis mine]

Five kilometers is over three miles. Yes, I should think it would be hard to find victims under those circumstances.

My heart - and prayers - go out to people who lost family and friends in last week's disasters.

That was a hard decision: whether to keep searching for people who were in what is now a miles-wide mess of mud and debris - or take the limited number of searchers away from that area to places where there's a less-remote chance that they'll find survivors.

Related posts:

• "Indonesia: Digging for Corpses; Weddings and Relief Efforts"
  (October 4, 2009)
• "Indonesia: Lots of Earthquakes, Lots of People Killed; Lots More Needing Help"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Indonesian Earthquake: Links to News, and Rambling on About Estimates and Common Sense"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Data Dump: Major Earthquakes During the Last Week"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Samoan Tsunami - Not Good News, But it Could Have Been Worse"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (September 30, 2009)