Article: Padang Turns Into A City of Rubble, Straits Times, 1 Oct 2009.

Padang turns into city of rubble


Numerous buildings collapse; bridges topple, power lines cut







A man carries an injured person in front of a collapsed university building during an evacuation after an earthquake hit Padang. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

PADANG: As night fell, Padang appeared to be a city in ruins and in shock.

Piles of rubble covered places where buildings had stood, fires were still burning and thousands of residents swarmed on the streets, afraid to return to what was left of their houses for fear of aftershocks. Massive traffic jams clogged up the roads, many of which had cracked.

It had taken just a moment to turn the the city of 900,000 people into a scene of devastation.

When the quake struck at 5.16pm, it took down numerous buildings, from houses and hotels to hospitals and malls, and toppled bridges across the city, pinning many under the rubble and starting fires.

Television reports expressed fear over the possibility of thousands of people trapped in collapsed buildings or buried under the rubble.

'For now I can't see dead bodies, just collapsed houses. Some half destroyed, others completely,' resident Adi told Indonesia's Metro Television.

'No help has arrived yet. I can see small children standing around carrying blankets. Some people are looking for relatives but all the lights have gone out completely.'

Said another resident: 'Hundreds of houses have been damaged along the road. There are some fires, bridges are cut and there is extreme panic here.'

Television footage showed flattened buildings, with at least one person trapped underneath, a foot sticking out from beneath the debris.

Thousands more were likely trapped when a major city hospital collapsed, said Mr Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry's disaster centre.

Other buildings were destroyed by fires, including Plaza Andalas, one of the larger malls. 'The shops were ruined,' one resident Anton told VIVAnews.

Andalas University campus was also badly damaged. Malaysian medical student Murtaza Mohamad Mustaffa, 23, said all 330 students at the university were safe.

His own house had almost collapsed, he told The Straits Times, while about 15 of the students' houses had collapsed.

They were waiting in the campus grounds, many staying out in the open in the belief that it was safer, he said, adding: 'It's very dark, and it's raining now.'

Another student, second-year medical student Fashareena Nazir, 23, was woken up by the quake. Grabbing her belongings, she ran out of her rented house and walked 5km to seek shelter.

'There were rumbles and a loud noise, like a bang,' she said, recalling what she saw on the way: houses on fire, the ground caving in and some houses disappearing before her eyes.

Among the destroyed hotels was the three-star Hotel Ambacang, at which aircrew regularly stayed. A pilot told detiknews.com that several Lion Air crew members had gone missing.

Padang Industrial Technic Academy lecturer Erwinsyah Sipahutar said students rushed out of the campus when the quake broke most of the windows. 'We were shaken like matchsticks,' he told Tempo Interactive.

Although Padang lay at the epicentre of the quake, the damage extended far beyond the city. Many buildings collapsed in the resort town of Bukit Tinggi, 150km north-east of the city, TVone said.

The quake also triggered a landslide that cut off land transport to the provincial town of Padang Pandang, 70km north of Padang, where a steep, sloping riverbank collapsed, toppling houses and starting fires.

Vibrations could be felt up to North Sumatra and even to Pekanbaru, Riau.

As night fell, the city was plunged into darkness, the result of cut power lines. Damaged telecommunication lines also made it hard for officials to determine the extent of the damage and death toll.

The quake also caused widespread panic across the city, as residents, fearing a tsunami, fled to higher ground.

'The earthquake was very strong,' said resident Kasmiati. 'I was outside, so I am safe, but my children at home were injured,' she said before her cell phone went dead.

According to detiknews.com, scores of people who had descended onto the streets looked set to camp outside overnight, fearful of aftershocks.

Added resident Mr Adi: 'People are standing around, too scared to go back inside. They fear a tsunami.'

REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BERNAMA

Straits Times , 1 Oct 2009.