Powerful Earthquakes Devastate West Papua
Submitted by Gordon Douglas on January 9, 2009 - 10:42.
A series of powerful earthquakes struck Manokwari, West Papua, on Sunday, January 4th, killing four people and injuring dozens more. Hundreds of buildings were damaged, leaving countless people homeless. The runway of Manokwari's Rendai Airport was split in two while two prominent three-story hotels in the town centre, the Mutiara and Kalidingin, collapsed.
The first quake with a magnitude of 7.6, hit at 4:43 a.m. local time about 135 kilometers from Manokwari at a depth of 35 kilometers. Dozens of aftershocks followed. One 7.3-magnitude tremor was felt as far away as Australia and sent small tsunamis into Japan's southeastern coast.
An official at Manokwari general hospital confirmed that at least 26 other people were injured, and at least two people remain trapped under the rubble of the Mutiara Hotel.
While the official death toll fortunately remains very low, thousands of frightened residents have now taken refuge in makeshift camps having fled to higher ground for fear of a tsunami and collapsing buildings. They are at risk of cholera and other diseases.
"For the time being there are 14,000 refugees," Governor Abraham Atururi said, adding that 17 camps had been set up for the displaced in Manokwari town. Relief agencies have yet to reach many rural areas, leading to fears that the death toll could climb much higher in the coming days as people succumb to injuries and infections.
This is a devastating blow to what is already one of the poorest regions of Indonesia where years of central government policies have systematically drained wealth from this resource rich frontier province, leaving local residents in poverty. INDOPOV, a multi-year analytical project and policy dialogue supported by the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development's Poverty Reduction Partnership Trust Fund identified the Manokwari area as having “The highest prevalence of poverty” in all of Indonesia.
Another concern is the role of military and police personnel in rescue operations will further traumatize displaced residents. Security forces have long been linked to ongoing human rights abuses as Jakarta has taken a hard line against Indigenous communities perceived to support independence for this former Dutch Colony annexed by Indonesia in 1969. There is a risk that relief assistance will be denied those who are allegedly linked to separatist activities. Our partners in the Manokwari area will be carefully monitoring and reporting on this and any other corruption.
