writer: Kat Vallera*
Epicenter
“I immediately saw houses destroyed before my eyes,” describes Zamnia Firqah, who was sitting alone at home on Sunday evening and watching TV within the Indonesian village of Kekait Gunungsari. She ran outside from her lounge because it began to shake: “I heard a terrible roar, my response was to run away in fear of the collapsing buildings.”
“They left screaming and crying, others fell off their motorcycles” – Inulnovita Sari describes the chaotic scene that unfolded in the guts of Mataram, the biggest city on the island of Lombok. Every week earlier, after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, the islanders were surprised to come across a magnitude 7.0 evil twin.
“Many buildings collapsed… Motorcycles collided.”
Intrepid tour guide Adham Kompak was with a friend within the Sambelia sub-district of eastern Lombok. Born and raised within the Ring of Fire, he says Sunday’s earthquake was more powerful than some other he has experienced.
“I saw everyone coming out of the house and screaming,” he recalled. “A few seconds later, the power went out. All [was] run and scream. Everyone was afraid, they ran to the square to save themselves,” recalled Meilani Musleh, who was at Sakre Gelanggang with friends from the university. “Everyone kept repeating the name of our God as they ran.”
“Then people remember the name of God,” notes Inulnovita.
In complete darkness, five strong aftershocks occurred over the following 90 minutes (4.9, 5.4, 4.7, 4.9, 4.3), followed by one other three large aftershocks (5.0, 4 ,6, 5,3), which took place before dawn.
Ketapang Beach resident Lutfiya Al-Qarani recalls the shock when she and her mother fled to higher ground on a motorcycle, falling 3 times resulting from continuous aftershocks.
“There was chaos, people fled into open fields,” says aid employee Sahedul Islam. “A tsunami warning was issued, which caused mass panic [and] fear. We received messages from staff telling us to pray for them. They were scared. My hands were shaking.”
Although the effect on the tidal currents was too small to matter, it was enough to make Sahedul feel a deep sense of dread sink in his chest. Even without the destruction attributable to the tsunami, the trauma of Lombok has already been inflicted.
100 miles from the epicenter
A robust earthquake was also felt in neighboring Bali. Sanur resident Wiwik Hidayati was preparing dinner with a friend. She had just stepped outside into the garden when she heard neighbors shouting and screaming.
“The earthquake began slowly. Then suddenly it began moving quite a bit. I believed it was over, but [it] continued after some slowdown. I noticed it was taking longer than up to now and the movement was much stronger.
“It was tense,” said Amelia Upito, who was browsing the upper level of the beachfront Discovery Shopping Center with friends when the ground began shaking.
She remembers how her friends panicked when people began running away. It wasn’t long before she was separated from her friends within the chaos. Amelia says it was the longest earthquake of her life and estimates it lasted about six minutes.
Then the tsunami warning went off, and she or he vividly remembers hearing the sounds of individuals running for his or her lives again. This time, panic got here from behind as they tried to get away from the beach.
500 miles from the epicenter
“I felt the tremors in Surabaya,” says Akhyari Hanato, founding father of Good News from SEAsia, who was watching TV at home. “I knew immediately it was an earthquake, but I was shocked to find out it happened in Lombok.”
Sunday’s seismic tremors in Lombok recorded by the USGS were so strong that tremors were recorded as far-off as East Java. To put this into perspective, imagine the San Francisco earthquake that toppled buildings in Sacramento and shook Santa Barbara.
“I have felt a lot of tremors in my life,” adds Akhyari. “So when I felt it in Surabaya, I knew it was something very serious.”
Overtime
The chaotic evacuation of greater than 3,000 people from the Gili Islands, a well-liked holiday archipelago off the coast of Lombok, has attracted much attention. But the exodus of greater than 10,000 foreigners from the “tourist island” of Lombok is nothing in comparison with the greater than 3 million inhabitants who remain mired in a humanitarian crisis.
“This earthquake is more serious than past earthquakes because the damage to buildings is so severe,” Zamnia says. It is estimated that as much as 80% of structures in northern Lombok were razed.
“Lombok is devastated,” says Meilani. “I saw a lot of houses razed to the ground.” It is speculated that roughly 270,000 residents are currently homeless.
Zamni’s family is amongst those displaced. They find shelter at an evacuation point, surrounded by other survivors, whom she describes as “terrified.” Zamnia expresses gratitude that her family is alive and fear of aftershocks. Meilani shares an identical story; after reuniting along with his family, he shares the identical concerns.
“Many people experienced trauma,” recalls Fadullah Wilmot, head of the Muslim Aid Mission in Lombok. “In some places, 100% of the houses were destroyed [and] people are still inside.” The concern was justified by greater than 355 aftershocks, including a magnitude 6.2, that occurred on Thursday.
Hospitals on the island were also destroyed within the earthquake, leaving medical staff with no selection but to treat injuries on the road. Australian firefighter Craig de Mellion was on holiday in Lombok when the disaster occurred, prompting him to volunteer as one in every of the primary responders after the disaster. Craig describes what number of victims arrived on the hospital still alive, but died resulting from the shortage of emergency care and sterile facilities.
The estimated death toll is approaching 400 and rising as clean water becomes scarce and injuries go untreated. Areas affected by severe damage still don’t have any electricity and telecommunications. It can be premature to evaluate the complete scope of this disaster until access to rural communities is interrupted.
Debris from crushed structures is strewn throughout the narrow streets, blocking key communication arteries. Due to road obstructions, collapsed bridges and the specter of landslides, tens of hundreds of survivors have yet to receive help following this terrible natural disaster.
“Small villages have not received donations,” Lutfiya insists. “Many people still need them, especially victims who are sick.”
The struggle to beat transportation obstacles is compounded by a big lack of obtainable resources. This might be attributed to a reluctance to hunt international assistance. An absence of strategy was also reported, which matches hand in hand with inadequate crisis management.
As a result, shockingly little humanitarian aid is distributed. One witness notes that as a substitute of medical supplies and necessities for survivors, a disproportionate variety of the responses consist of body-sniffing dogs and bulldozers to clear the wreckage.
Essential first aid items include food, clean water, tents and blankets, in addition to basic hygiene and sanitary products. More desperately critical is the immediate need for medicines, doctors and medical supplies.
The excellent news is that the airport in Lombok is open, which has prompted a call for volunteers with experience in emergency medical services and/or disaster response. People who wish to help but aren’t qualified are encouraged to fund aid and donate to the Indonesia Emergency Earthquake Appeal.
“If we have more funds, we will be able to respond better,” explains Fadullah. “To meet the immediate needs of the affected population and support their recovery.”
Overall, the Lombok relief effort currently relies on local fundraising and crowdsourcing campaigns. Based on his experience working for disaster response agencies up to now, Akhyari recommends donating to a corporation that’s already on the bottom and has proven transparency. The international organization Muslim Aid is one such agency that meets these criteria.
“Muslim Aid has a long experience of working with communities affected by natural disasters and has developed a very strict policy to ensure accountability and transparency of its work,” Fadullah maintains. “The generous support provided by the community is utilized in essentially the most cost-effective and effective way, bringing maximum profit to those affected.
“When disasters strike, one feels overwhelmed by the courage of first responders.” The local Muslim Aid team was one in every of the primary to reach in Lombok and even posted a video alongside the safety check on Facebook.
As long as sustainability is taken under consideration in investments to be rebuilt, Fadullah is optimistic that tourism will return. Adham also believes that this too will pass. He looks forward to the day when he can once more guide guests in discovering Lombok’s picturesque nature and warm culture. Reciting a proverb his parents gave him:
“The sound of the storm should have passed, which suggests that each one misfortunes will certainly end.”
Special due to Widdati Syukri
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*Award-winning travel agent and journalist ( IG@katvalleratravel Tweet@katvalleratrvl )
Originally published on TravelPulse.com with the title “In Their Words: Indonesia Earthquake Survivors Wait for Help and Mourn”
