Indonesia (MNN) ― Indonesia has declared a two-month emergency in quake-torn Sumatra. Jacob Kramer with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee says their teams are providing immediate relief.
"It's mainly a phase of giving out water, food, and clothing," he says, "[and] improvised shelter in terms of providing tarps so that part of the house can be salvaged and set up so that people have a roof over their heads."
With the death toll climbing beyond 600, hope is slim, and authorities are now looking for bodies as the rubble is cleared.
"Many are still desperately seeking for their family members who are still buried under buildings," says Kramer.
In Padang, West Sumatra's capital, figures place around 180,000 buildings as severely damaged or destroyed in Wednesday's 7.6 magnitude quake. Most relief efforts have been focused on Padang; the BBC says landslides set off by the quake have devastated communities about 50 miles north of the capital.
According to the BBC report, more than 600 people could've been buried in the landslides, pushing the current death toll past 1,000.
With disaster experience in Padang in response to a March 2007 earthquake, the CRWRC has been able to act quickly to meet the needs of survivors through its partners. CRWRC also works on the Indonesian island of Java, reconstructing houses destroyed by a September 2 quake; nearly 200,000 people were displaced in that incident.
Located on the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire," Indonesia is the world's most seismically-active region. Between 6,000 and 7,000 earthquakes with 4.0 magnitudes or higher are registered annually. Last week's quakes registered 7.6 and 6.6-magnitude, respectively.
As CRWRC teams bring relief to broken Sumatra, Kramer requests prayer for their guidance and for earthquake victims. "Pray for them that they may find God in these circumstances."
You can support CRWRC's disaster response to Indonesia, as well as the other regions of Asia currently reeling from catastrophes, by clicking here.
