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From MISNAOct. 2, 2009
“It was 5:15p.m and I was speaking to a confrere in our house in Padang, when
suddenly we heard a loud rumbling noise moving toward us; within seconds
everything began collapsing”, said to MISNA Father Michele Galli, a Xaverian
missionary from Bergamo, Italy (81 years-old, 52 of which spent as a missionary
in the Padang diocese), describing the first moments of the earthquake measuring
7.6 on the Richter scale that on Wednesday Sept. 30 2009 hit Indonesia’s Sumatra
Island, and in particular the city of Padang, capital of the West Sumatra
province.
“It was a moment. We were around ten in the house and we all gathered around two
columns that appeared to be the most resistant and waited. The quake devastated
all of the rooms, though fortunately aside from some cracks, the house held up
well. I guess it wasn’t our moment yet”, continued Fr. Galli with a hint of
irony, adding that the wall surrounding the building completely collapsed.
The area of Sumatra is among the world’s most seismic zones and Padang is
located along the so-called ‘Ring of Fire’; just two years ago the area was hit
by a quake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale, though “Wednesday’s was the worst
I remember in 52 years that I have lived in Padang”, explained the missionary.
“When we left the house, we saw the extent of the disaster. The Catholic
hospital that stands next to our house was hit hard. An entire wing collapsed
and from what I understand, the medial staff was not able to evacuate all of the
patients. Looking from the courtyard of our house all I could see was
destruction”, added the missionary.
Fr. Galli, contacted in Jakarta where he arrived yesterday to depart for a
two-month holiday in Italy, confirmed the devastation reported by Indonesian
officials. “Padang is a dead city. After the quake the situation was terrible
and surreal. The city, entirely in the dark and destroyed, for hours appeared
almost suspended, while it even began to rain. I think that those who say
thousands are still trapped under the rubble are right. I saw houses and large
buildings reduced to a pile of rubble, the university gone, with all those who
were inside. The market area, which at that time is usually very busy,
practically doesn’t exist anymore, and all the old little houses that surround
the stores gone for ever”, continued Fr. Galli, adding his call to that of the
government for international aid.
“There are still so many people trapped under the rubble. The government and
people are doing everything possible, but don’t have sufficient means. In the
city there is need for everything, from food to clothes and medical supplies”,
concluded the missionary.
“I’ve never felt a shock like it in Padang; the mission house is upside down,
even if it was built using anti-seismic materials; there has been damage but all
the missionaries are fine”: and that is indeed the crucial thing, as Father
Otello Pancani, a Xaverian missionary in Jakarta described what he heard from
his fellow fraternity brothers who spoke to him by phone from Padang, in
Sumatra, which suffered an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale.
Apart from Padang, the village of Pariaman was also affected and the death toll
so far is said to exceed 20, some people suggesting 75. There are reports of
collapsed buildings while many people are still buried under the rubble; some
buildings are also on fire. For the time being there are no communications with
the area and there is a blackout in Padang. Geologists from the National Science
Institute told the Jakarta Post that the number of victims could approach that
of the 6.4 Richter scale earthquake that hit Padang in March 2007, leaving 57
dead; least than a month ago, another earthquake hit western Java killing at
least 80.
A second powerful earthquake hit the Island of Sumatra after yesterday’s quake
that left 464 dead. Indonesian authorities fear that thousands of people are
trapped under the rubble of schools, hospitals, hotels and other buildings that
collapsed in the Padang area.
The epicenter of today’s quake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, was around
60km from Sungaipenuh, in the Jambi province, at a depth of 10km. Rescuers
continue working under heavy rain in Padang, where tens of thousands of people
are in urgent need of water, food, covers and medicine.
The material damages are extensive: at least 500 buildings collapsed, roads are
destroyed, phone and power lines are down. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
called on his government to provide full assistance to those affected, by air
and sea, which are the only possible means. The President added that tons of
medical supplies, baby food and medical personnel have been sent to the areas of
the disaster. Three ministers went to Padang this morning to assess the
situation. According to experts, aftershocks may hit the area over the next
days.
