Survivors Cope in Quake's Aftermath

September 14, 2007

As aftershocks continue to rock the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Mercy Corps staff members are assessing needs. This most recent series of earthquakes was touched off by a 8.2-magnitude quake earlier this week that shook tall buildings in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta — 375 miles from the epicenter — and triggered at least one small tsunami.

Mercy Corps has activated its Indonesia Response team, and veteran staff have arrived in both Bengkulu and West Sumatra Provinces. Mercy Corps has more than a dozen persons focusing on Bengkulu Utara (North Bengkulu), and approximately 12 staff in West Sumatra Province focusing on the southern most district of Pesisir Selatan.

While the death toll is holding at nine fatalities, hundreds have been injured. Local news in Bengkulu is reporting that 37 houses have collapsed, 477 homes are heavily damaged and 762 houses are damaged.

In all five of the most affected districts, survivors have received little if any assistance so far, and are typically living in small tented areas waiting for things such as food, water and blankets.

Help us respond to this and other life-altering disasters around the world by giving to our Emergency Response fund.

Mercy Corps employs eight people in the Bengkulu, the town closest to the epicenter. Bengkulu is one of the sites of the agency's Sumatra Healthy Schools Initiative, which focuses on ensuring clean drinking water, safe sanitation facilities and good hygiene practices at hundreds of schools.

In all, more than 440 Mercy Corps staff members work in Indonesia on programs ranging from addressing urban malnutrition to training midwives to rebuilding schools in the tsunami zone. Nearly 700,000 Indonesians benefit from these and other efforts.

Mercy Corps responded to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with help for 1 million Indonesians. Our programs there continue to support comprehensive village-based return programs, informal income-generation activities, microfinance and business redevelopment projects and psychosocial support programs for those affected by tsunami.

Gifts to our Emergency Response fund help us deliver lifesaving aid quickly to those in need.

Read more about our projects in Indonesia.