UN TEAM SURVEYS AFTERMATH OF INDONESIA’S LETHAL EARTHQUAKE

As a United Nations team today assessed emergency relief needs in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that struck Indonesia, local authorities said that the death toll has climbed to 57 and more than 3,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Another 42 people are missing and feared buried following a landslide in Cianjur district and almost 24,000 houses were either totally or partially damaged in yesterday's earthquake, with some 367 schools and 353 places of worship in West Java also affected, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

A team of 10 UN officials from various agencies were dispatched today to the areas most affected by the earthquake, which measures about 7.3 on the Richter scale when it struck the Tasikmalaya district of West Java.

Two serious aftershocks measuring 5.1 and 5.4 respectively were also recorded within the next 90 minutes and 69 smaller tremors have since been reported, with indications that the quake was felt as far north as the national capital, Jakarta, and as far east as the island of Bali.

The UN assessment team – consisting of representatives from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), the World Bank and OCHA – started its mission in Tasikmalaya, South Bandung, Garut and Bandung districts and will visit the remaining affected districts of Ciamis and Cianjur tomorrow.

OCHA is also slated to meet tomorrow to finalize the results of the fact-finding operation, and Indonesia's National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) has reported that local and national governments have the resources to respond to the crisis.
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FEATURE: FIVE YEARS AFTER TSUNAMI, INDONESIA BETTER PREPARED FOR CATASTROPHES

The devastating tsunami which hit Indonesia so hard in December 2004 had two positive effects: it pushed the population to reflect and improve its mechanisms for managing catastrophes, and in the country's Aceh province it led to the end of a conflict which had lasted 70 years.

Caused by a submarine earthquake off the coast of Aceh in western Indonesia, the tsunami sent waves reaching as high as 30 metres surging over all the lands within its reach including as far as Africa. Nearly 230,000 people in 11 countries were killed.

"Generally speaking, we have learned that tsunami presented us with a chance to improve ourselves not only in Aceh but also at the national level," said Titi Moektijasih, responsible for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA) coordination and liaison with the Government agency managing catastrophes. She spoke to the <"http://www.un.org/news/">UN News Centre in connection with <"http://www.un.org/en/events/humanitarianday/2009/">World Humanitarian Day, which is being observed today.

"After the tsunami, [Indonesia's] Parliament and civil society worked together to put in place a law on the management of catastrophes, something that had never happened before. There was draft law but it had never been truly discussed."

Titi, herself a tsunami victim, explains that even two years ago it was very difficult for her to speak of her experience. "But today speaking about it affords me some ease," she concedes.

On 26 December 2004, the tsunami, already four metres high and travelling at 20 kilometres an hour, struck the centre of Banda Aceh, moving up two canals that had been dug to drain off waters from a flood in 2002. Titi is the sole survivor of three OCHA staff in the area.

"The tsunami made us think strategically, notably about juridical questions," she believes, adding that a law on the management of catastrophes was adopted in 2007. "The text covers a very vast field, but it is only beginning to be put into force. On the ground people have begun to rebuild and importantly a better infrastructure has been constructed."

Titi, who visited Aceh in March 2005, September 2007, and February 2008, says she has noticed important changes in the physical aspects of the territory. She also believes that the atmosphere has changed and that people no longer live in the atmosphere of suspicion that prevailed pre-tsunami, when Government forces fought Acehnese rebels.

"Today you hear of fighting in remote areas, but in my opinion it is very different."

As for the future, Titi believes that what is missing most from the reconstruction efforts is coordination. Resources are not lacking, neither financial, nor in terms of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved, "but the efforts are scattered."