Indonesia
Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcano
The Situation:
On November 16, Jakarta Post reported that 242 have been killed by the eruptions from Mt. Merapi. The National Mitigation Agency reports that almost 400,000 people have been forced to take refuge at 639 sheltering points scattered in Klaten, Magelang, Sleman and Boyolali.
The vast Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the world's most active areas for earthquakes and volcanoes.
Late in the evening of October 25 (US time), a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, triggering a 3-meter (10 feet) tsunami that struck the Mentawai islands. Word of increased casualties continued to be reported and as of November 1, approximately 435 deaths have been confirmed and the search for just over hundred goes on. According to disaster officials, 10 villages on the islands were swept away by the tsunami. It is reported that at least 15,000 have been displaced.
Reports received from the Nommensen [Lutheran] University Center for Disaster and Risk Management (CDRM), supported in part by the ELCA, say casualties and damage are widespread in areas immediately around a CDRM base in Sikakap, on one of the Mentawai islands. In the villages of Tikako and Malakop alone, 98 people are dead and at least 20 missing; 174 houses have been swept away; and several thousand have been displaced by evaucations. CDRM is the only NGO based in Sikakap, and is working in collaboration with the [Lutheran] Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai (GKPM).
According to CDRM and other relief groups, access to the affected areas is being hampered by bad weather. Many villagers have lost everything. They have no food and no other means of survival. Their shelters have also been swept away by the Tsunami. CDRM plans to provide some preliminary assistance.
At the same time as the earthquake and tsunami rocked the Sumatra region, one of Indonesia’s most volatile volcanoes, Mount Merapi in central Java, erupted, spewing plumes of hot ash and hurling rocks into the air. At least 25 people have been killed even as thousands of residents living on the volcano's slopes are being evacuated. Officials are working to evacuate an additional 13,000 people from within a 10-mile radius of the volcano. Television footage showed thousands of people fleeing the area, some covered in the volcano's white ash which rained from the sky. Scientists are wary that the pressure building up beneath its lava dome could lead to one of the most powerful blasts in years.
ELCA Response:
In Sumatra, CDRM director Tulasi Sharma reports that they have provided transportation support as the district government head has called on the United Nations and NGOs to provide relief assistance. CDRM is also planning an initial emergency response and is assessing needs for a relief plan.
At Mt. Merapi, the ELCA has contacted one of its partners, YAKKUM (the Christian Foundation for Public Health), which has an emergency response unit, to assess any emergency response needs that may have arisen in the volcano area.
ELCA News Service 10-28-2010
Access the ELCA Disaster Response Blog page
What you can do:
Pray:
Download prayers, litanies, prayer petitions, and suggested hymns and songs
for use in worship with your congregation as a way of remembering those affected by these and other natural disasters, or in your personal devotions.
Study and Share:
In addition to what you find in the secular media, look at the following:
Church World Service 
Give:
Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response help us to provide immediate and effective support to communities which are in need. Please consider giving to support the needs of this response and others like it. Information on giving is provided in the box on the right “How You Can Help.” 100% of your gift will be used in full to bring life sustaining support to this crisis. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
Return to Disaster Response Home Page
Tsunami Photo Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Philip A. McDaniel © Public domain
Other Photos used with permission from Nommensen [Lutheran] University Center for Disaster & Risk Mgmt