Gempa Pidie Jaya Tewaskan 97, Ratusan Orang Terluka
Massive Earthquake Kills at Least 97 People in Area of Indonesia
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
SETIDAKNYA 97 orang tewas dan ratusan terluka setelah gempa kuat melanda Provinsi Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam (NAD) pada Rabu, kata seorang pejabat.
Gempa 6,5 skala Richter melanda Kabupaten Pidie Jaya pada waktu subuh, merubuhkan rumah, meratakan bangunan dan penduduk berlarian menyelamatkan diri menuju tempat yang lebih tinggi. Tidak ada peringatan tsunami.
Korban tewas terus meningkat setelah tim pencari dan penyelamat (SAR) di antara reruntuhan bangunan, kadang-kadang dengan tangan kosong, untuk menemukan korban yang terjebak di bawah reruntuhan.
Juru bicara Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho mengatakan korban tewas akibat gempa Aceh bisa meningkat merujuk pada jumlah korban yang diyakini masih terjebak di bawah puing-puing reruntuhan bangunan.
Dia menambahkan: "Jumlah korban diperkirakan meningkat mengingat besarnya skala gempa bumi."
Ratusan rumah, masjid dan rumah toko atau ruko runtuh, sementara rumah sakit setempat dan sekolah rusak berat, tambahnya.
Gempa itu terasa di seluruh provinsi, yang luluh lantak dilanda tsunami dari Samudra Hindia pada 2004.
Indonesia berada di patahan seismik dan gunung berapi aktif mengingat posisinya barada kawasan Pasifik "Ring of Fire", di mana lempeng tektonik bertabrakan.
Seorang wanita di kabupaten yang paling parah dilanda gempa di dekat pusat gempa mengatakan dia melarikan diri bersama suami dan anak-anak ke bukit terdekat setelah gempa mengguncang keluarga yang baru bangun pada Rabu pagi. Mereka menunggu di bukit selama beberapa jam sampai pihak berwenang meyakinkan mereka bahwa tidak ada risiko tsunami.
Fitri Abidin warga di Pidie Kabupaten Jaya mengatakan: "Saya sangat terkejut. Saya kesulitan bernafas atau berjalan.."
Dia mengatakan suaminya mencengkeram dan membawanya keluar dari rumah ketika anak-anak mereka menangis.
Dia mengatakan: "Kami berlari ke bukit terdekat, karena rumah kami dekat pantai. Kami takut tsunami bisa datang kapan saja.."
Rumah mereka tidak rubuh tetapi rumah beberapa tetangga rusak. Fitri mengaku trauma karena dia meyakini tiga temannya tertimpa bangunan yang runtuh.
Aceh pernah dilanda oleh tsunami hebat pada 2004 yang dijuluki Boxing Day yang menewaskan lebih dari 230.000 orang.
Gempa bumi di Samudera Hindia menyebabkan serangkaian tsunami di wilayah pantai Sri Lanka, Thailand dan India dengan gelombang setinggi 30 meter.
Tsunami menghancurkan 14 negara yang berbeda dan menyebabkan kehancuran dan malapetaka bagi korbannya, meninggalkan sepuluh juta orang kehilangan tempat tinggal seperti dilansir The Sun.
AT LEAST 97 people have died and hundreds are injured after a strong earthquake struck Aceh province on Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, an official said.
The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake hit Pidie Jaya district at dawn, toppling homes, flattening buildings and sending people running for higher ground. There was no tsunami alert.
The death toll has continued to rise as rescue crews sift through the rubble, sometimes by hand, to find those trapped below.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says the death toll from the Aceh earthquake could swell as people are believed trapped in the debris of collapsed buildings.
He added: "Those figures are expected to rise given the massive destruction."
Hundreds of homes, mosques and shops have collapsed, while a local hospital and school were heavily damaged, he added.
The earthquake was felt across much of Aceh, which was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.
A woman in the worst-hit district near the epicentre of Indonesia's earthquake says she fled with her husband and children to a nearby hill after the quake jolted the family awake early Wednesday. They stayed there for several hours until authorities reassured them there was no tsunami risk.
Seaside resident Fitri Abidin in Pidie Jaya district says: "It terrified me. I was having difficulty breathing or walking."
She says her husband grabbed hold of her and carried her out of the house as their children were crying.
She says: "We ran to a nearby hill, because our house is near a beach. We were afraid a tsunami can come at any time."
The family's house didn't collapse but the homes of some neighbors did. Abidin is traumatized because she believes three friends were buried in building collapses.
Indonesia is still badly scarred by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami which killed more than 230,000 people.
An earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a series of tsunamis across the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, Thailand and India with waves as high as 30 metres.
The shattering tsunami affected 14 different countries and caused devastation and havoc for its victims, leaving ten million people homeless.