Psychiatrists fear 'tsunami' of mental illness after lockdown

Psychiatrists are warning of a "tsunami" of mental illness from problems stored up during lockdown.

They are particularly concerned that children and older adults are not getting the support they need because of school closures, self-isolation and fear of hospitals.

In a survey, psychiatrists reported rises in emergency cases and a drop in routine appointments.

They emphasised that mental-health services were still open for business.

'Patients have evaporated'

"We are already seeing the devastating impact of Covid-19 on mental health, with more people in crisis," said Prof Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

"But we are just as worried about the people who need help now but aren't getting it. Our fear is that the lockdown is storing up problems which could then lead to a tsunami of referrals."

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A survey of 1,300 mental-health doctors from across the UK found that 43% had seen a rise in urgent cases while 45% reported a reduction in routine appointments.

One psychiatrist said: "In old-age psychiatry our patients appear to have evaporated, I think people are too fearful to seek help."

Another wrote: "Many of our patients have developed mental disorders as a direct result of the coronavirus disruption - eg social isolation, increased stress, running out of meds."

Dr Bernadka Dubicka, who chairs the faculty of child and adolescent psychiatry at the RCP, said: "We are worried that children and young people with mental illness who may be struggling are not getting the support that they need.

"We need to get the message out that services are still open for business."

Dr Amanda Thompsell, an expert in old-age psychiatry, said using technology to call a doctor during lockdown was difficult for some older people.

They were often "reluctant" to seek help, and their need for mental-health support was likely to be greater than ever, she added.

'Clear priority'

Mental-health charity Rethink Mental Illness said the concerns raised were supported by evidence from people living with mental illness.

In a survey of 1,000 people, many said their mental health had got worse since the pandemic had started, due to the disruption to routines that keep them safe and well.

"The NHS is doing an incredible job in the most difficult of circumstances, but mental health must be a clear priority, with investment to ensure services can cope with this anticipated surge in demand," said the charity's Danielle Hamm.

She said it could take years for some people to recover from the setbacks.

(Source: BBC)

Taal volcano: Lava spews as 'hazardous eruption' feared

A volcano in the Philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warn that a "hazardous eruption" is possible "within hours or days".

In the early hours of Monday weak lava began flowing out of Taal volcano - located some 70km (45 miles) south of the capital Manila.

It comes after it emitted a huge plume of ash, triggering the mass evacuation of 8,000 people from the area.

Weak lava has began flowing out of the Taal volcano

Taal is the Philippines' second most active volcano.

Situated on an island in the middle of a lake, it is one of the world's smallest volcanoes and has recorded at least 34 eruptions in the past 450 years.

Authorities in the surrounding province, Batangas, have declared a "state of calamity", signifying major disruption.

"Taal volcano entered a period of intense unrest... that progressed into magmatic eruption at 02:49 to 04:28... this is characterised by weak lava fountaining accompanied by thunder and flashes of lightning," the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a statement.

But Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said that signs of a hazardous eruption, including "flows of ashes, rocks, gas at speeds of more than 60 kph horizontally" had not yet occurred, according to CNN Philippines.

Phivolcs has now raised the alert level from 3 to 4, out of a maximum of 5.

Cars, buildings and roads have been left covered in ash

Authorities have also warned of a possible "volcanic tsunami", which can be trigged by falling debris after an eruption, pushing the water and generating waves.

'Covered in ash'

On Sunday, the volcano emitted a giant plume of ash, with rumbling sounds and tremors also reported.

A total of 75 earthquakes have occurred in the Taal region, with 32 of these earthquakes ranking 2 and higher on the earthquake intensity scale, said Phivolcs.

The Official United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more than 450,000 people are estimated to live within the 14km danger zone of the Taal volcano.

Over 450,000 people are estimated to be residing within the 14 km danger zone of the Taal Volcano. On 12 January, alert level 4 was raised and surrounding towns were evacuated. As of 6 a.m. today, @NDRRMC_OpCen reports that over 7,700 people are in 38 evacuation centres. pic.twitter.com/td0Yj0S6Cj

— OCHA Philippines (@OCHAPhilippines) 13 January 2020

Ash fell on several areas nearby with residents advised to wear masks. One resident in metro Manila said shops had begun to run out of masks.

"When I went to my car, I saw it was covered in ash. I hurriedly went to buy a mask from a drugstore but they had run out," Angel Bautista, a resident of Paranaque told Reuters.

The government has warned retailers not to hike mask prices amid the surging demand.

'Grey and lifeless'

By Howard Johnson, BBC News, Tagaytay, Philippines

As we approached the Taal volcano area this morning we saw local residents shovelling thick wet ash from the roads. Pineapple groves, normally verdant and luscious, now looked grey and lifeless.

In the distance Taal continued to billow ash and smoke miles into the sky. As the morning went on the ash clouds became darker.

Police manning a 14km exclusion zone stopped people from travelling into the area close to the volcano, but there was a steady flow of cars and trucks moving out.

On the back of one pick-up truck, I saw a large family with their treasured household possessions. They were moving in the direction of the Philippine capital Manila, where many people are choosing to stay with relatives.

The volcanic ash also forced Manila's international airport to suspend all flights on Sunday. Phivolcs had warned that the "airborne ash and ballistic fragments from the eruption... posed hazards to aircrafts".

The Civil Aviation Authority announced later on Monday that it had resumed "partial operations" as of 10:00 local time (02:00 GMT) for flights departing the airport and 12:00 for arrivals.

The Philippine stock exchange also announced it would halt all trading on Monday.

President Rodrigo Duterte's office has also ordered the suspension of government work in Manila and the closure of all schools in the capital.

Ash from the Taal volcano has affected thousands of residents in nearby areas

Earthquakes and volcanic activity are not uncommon in the Philippines, which lies along the Ring of Fire - a zone of major seismic activity, which has one of the world's most active fault lines.

 Taal: 'A very dangerous volcano'

• The active volcano is at the centre of the 230 sq km Lake Taal, formed by prehistoric eruptions
• Taal is a "complex volcano", which means it doesn't have one vent or cone but several eruption points that have changed over time
• The head of Phivolcs calls Taal "a volcano within a volcano" and says as such it is "very dangerous"
• Taal has erupted in different ways more than 30 times in the past 500 years - most recently in 1977
• A 1911 eruption killed about 1,500 people. A 1974 eruption lasted several months

(Source: BBC)

Indonesia tsunami: New warning system 'to be built next year'

Indonesia says it will build a new warning system capable of detecting tsunamis caused by undersea landslides, days after giant waves triggered by a volcano killed at least 429 people.

Installation of the new structure of buoys would start next year, a government agency told the BBC.

It is thought that activity by the Anak Krakatau volcano set off undersea landslides, causing Saturday's tsunami.

Officials say some 150 people are still missing and 16,000 have been displaced.

Rescue workers, helped by heavy lifting equipment, are going from village to village, sifting through the debris looking for survivors in badly hit areas on the islands of Sumatra and Java.

How will the new system work?
The new mechanism would work by detecting the size of waves, Iyan Turyana, a spokesman for the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, told the BBC's Indonesian service.

The existing technology failed to predict the tsunami that devastated coastal towns around the Sunda Strait, between the islands of Sumatra and Java.

The system has been set up to monitor earthquakes, but not undersea landslides and volcanic eruptions, which can also generate deadly waves.

Due to lack of funds, vandalism to the buoys and technical faults, there have been no operational tsunami warning buoys since 2012.

But experts say that even if there had been buoys near the volcano, there warning time would have been minimal, given how close Anak Krakatau is to the shoreline.

Coastal residents near the volcano have been warned to keep away from beaches amid fears continued volcanic eruptions of Anak Krakatau could trigger a new tsunami.

What is the situation on the ground?
Rescue efforts have been hampered by blocked roads and heavy rain, the BBC's Sameer Hashmi in Banten reports.

There are concerns that contaminated water could spread diseases, our correspondent adds.

Food, water, blankets and medical aid are slowly reaching remote areas, and thousands of people are in tents and temporary shelters like mosques or schools.

"Everybody is still in a state of panic," Atmadja Suhar, official in the city of Labuan, told Reuters news agency. "We often have disasters, but not as bad as this... God willing we will rebuild."

The tsunami struck at 21:30 local time (14:30 GMT) during a local holiday, with few of the warning signals that might have come had it been generated by an earthquake.

The waves destroyed hundreds of buildings, sweeping away cars and uprooting trees in several popular tourist destinations, including the Tanjung Lesung beach resort in west Java.

One of the most shocking and heart-rending stories to have emerged is that of rock band Seventeen, who were performing in the resort when waves came crashing through the stage and swept them away.

How common are tsunamis in Indonesia?

Some residents in the Pandeglang region ran to a local mosque after the tsunami hit

Indonesia is prone to tsunamis because it lies on the Ring of Fire - the line of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific Rim.

In September, more than 2,000 people died when a powerful earthquake struck just off the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi, setting off a tsunami that engulfed the coastal city of Palu.

On 26 December 2004, a series of huge waves triggered by a powerful earthquake in the Indian Ocean killed about 228,000 people in 13 countries, mostly in Indonesia.

However, tsunamis caused by volcanic activity like this are less frequent.

Krakatoa (Krakatau in Indonesian)
In August 1883, Krakatoa underwent one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in recorded history:

• Massive tsunamis with waves of up to 41m killed more than 30,000 people
• Thousands more were killed by hot ash
• The eruptions were equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT - about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945
• The eruptions were heard thousands of kilometres away
• World temperatures dropped by more than 1C the following year
• The volcanic island virtually disappeared
• Anak Krakatau emerged in 1927 from the caldera that was formed during the eruption of Krakatoa

(Source: BBC)

Tsunami kills 43 in Indonesia after Krakatoa volcano erupts

Deadly wave triggered by combination of underwater landslides and full moon

At least 43 people died and another 584 were injured when a tsunami hit the Indonesian coast, according to government officials.

The wave is thought to have been caused by underwater landslides following an eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, also known as “Child of Krakatoa”.

Indonesia’s disaster management agency said it was still investigating the incident late on Saturday.

Footage of the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, also known as 'Child of Krakatoa' 

“The impact of the tsunami that hit the coast around the Sunda Strait, especially in Pandenglang District, South Lampung and Serang continues to increase,” said spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

“The cause of the tsunami is still being investigated. It was possibly caused by underwater landslides due to eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau and tidal waves due to the full moon.

“The two combinations caused a sudden tsunami that hit the coast.”

Dozens of vehicles and buildings including a hotel have been damaged by the tsunami. The affected areas include Tanjung Lesung Beach, Sumur Beach, Teluk Lada Beach, Panimbang Beach, and Carita Beach.

The motorway connecting to the area Serang-Pandeglang, was cut off.

Mr Nugroho said the casualty total was likely to rise but urged the community to “remain calm and not be provoked by misleading issues.”

Data sementara dampak tsunami di Pantai di Kab Pandeglang, Serang dan Lampung Selatan hingga 23/12/2018 pukul 04.30 WIB: tercatat 20 orang meninggal dunia, 165 orang luka-luka, 2 orang hilang dan puluhan bangunan rusak. Data korban kemungkinan masih akan terus bertambah. pic.twitter.com/6f7buuoD5Y

— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) December 22, 2018

Mobile phone footage published online shows people trying to flee to safety as the wave rushes through a building.

It comes after nearly 2,000 people were killed by an earthquake and tsunami which struck Sulawesi island on 28 September.

The original Krakatoa volcano was destroyed during a huge eruption in 1883 but the name is still used for the group of islands that remained, including Mount Anak Krakatau.

(Source: The Independent) 

Indonesia tsunami: 'It’s an absolute miracle' my child survived

When a powerful earthquake and tsunami hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, hundreds of children were separated from their parents. More than 2,000 people died, with large areas being declared mass graves. But in recent weeks there have also been some extraordinary reunions.

Fikri and Jumadil go missing

"What happened that day, my little one?" ADEK BERRY

Martha Salilama had left the stove on.

When the earth shook with incredible power, she grabbed seven year old Fikri, her great nephew, and rushed out of the house.

They had been cooking together, packets of yellow rice with fried chicken to sell at a beach festival to mark Palu city's anniversary.

"With things crumbling and falling around them, they ran out into the open. They were terrified that they would get trapped inside," says her sister Selfi Salilama, Fikri's grandmother.

When the earth stopped shaking, Marta left Fikri with some neighbours who had gathered around a horse statue that sits on the Palu bay.

She then went home to turn off the stove.

"When she came back Fikri was gone," says Selfi.

What she found was a scene of horror, a trail of destruction left by gigantic waves that had pounded the bay.

The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the city of Palu SOPA IMAGES

When the quake hit five year old Jumadil was on the beach building sandcastles.

His grandmother, Ajarni, who was looking after him that day, was selling food to festival goers on the street above the beach.

He had been clingy that day, she remembers.

"He wanted to be carried all the time, so I carried him around on my hip. He finally got bored and asked to be put down and went off and played in the sand," she says.

When the first quake struck she tried frantically to reach him but failed.

It was chaotic, she says, with people running in all directions as the earth threw them around.

"When I got closer to the shore I saw a wall of black water heading towards me."

"I ran as fast as I could, I had no idea where I was running"

With the monstrous waves about to pound the bay, she could look no more and ran.

"I ran as fast as I could, I had no idea where I was running. When the water swept me away I clung on to a motorbike."

The waves finally dumped her in the parking lot of a hotel.

She had survived. But Jumadil was gone.

That's where her husband, Daeng, the boy's grandfather, found her.

"I didn't recognise her at first, because she was covered in mud and blood and was crying. I turned to someone I knew and said I am looking for my wife and they said - that's her!"

"Her hair was caked with mud and blood, it was like instant noodles. I picked her up and cried out for help."

A passing motorbike rider took them to the nearest hospital.

"I was worried she would lose too much blood. There were lots of aftershocks, it was terrifying," he remembers.

Susi Rahmatia thought her son had drowned in the huge waves

The desperate search

News reached Jumadil's mum, Susi Rahmatia, at home.

"My uncle rushed in and said 'there are children's corpses everywhere near the shore'. I collapsed and cried, I thought for sure my son had been killed by the waves."

"That night my husband went searching for him. When he came across a body of a child he broke down and cried."

In the morning the grandfather, Asmudin, joined the search.

"The air around the beach was filled with the smell of corpses. I searched and searched for hours barefoot. I looked under the rubble and in places I thought he might have been washed up," he says.

Children's toys were scattered in the rubble of houses SOPA IMAGES

Satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company.

Seven year old Fikri's family were also desperately searching for him.

His grandmother, Selfi Salilama, says they feared he, too, was dead.

"At the hospital we opened body bag after body bag that had a child in it," she says.

"Each time a wave of fear washed over us. And we would say 'Allah make us strong enough to do this' - each time hoping it wasn't Fikri."

"We were almost certain that we had lost him. We knew his 10-year-old brother had died. But in my heart I had a little hope that perhaps Fikri had run away in time."

Selfi Salilam feared both her grandsons were dead

Fikri's parents find out

Fikri's parents live and work 600km away in Gorontalo.

With telecommunications down Selfi says she couldn't contact them. She was also a little scared to tell them.

"I didn't want everyone to panic and worry. We wanted to search first and give them news with some certainty," she says.

But given the scale of the disaster keeping it a secret was impossible.

"We saw it all on television. I was just speechless. My husband Iqbal left straight away for Palu. I stayed here to look after my younger children," Susila says.

When Iqbal As Sywie arrived to hear both his sons were missing, he was devastated.

"He was angry and very upset and was saying to us 'why didn't you take better care of my sons?' I had to calm him down telling him this was out of our hands. That if Allah wanted to take them we had to accept that."

Photographs of missing people were displayed on the walls in days after
the disaster ULET IFANSASTI

They reported Fikri missing at child protection posts set up across the city.

They also did interviews with local television stations giving them details about the boy who was missing.

The break through

Jumadil's uncle posted a notice on a Facebook page for survivors in the city, hoping the picture of his nephew would jog someone's memory.

Sartini's daughter saw the picture and thought it bore a striking resemblance to the child her mother was looking after.

The social media post that help find Jumadil AFP

The wife of a local imam, Sartini, had met the boy at a police station in the aftermath of the quake.

She remembers that he was wailing uncontrollably, just repeating cries of "mummy" and "daddy".

"I only persuaded him by saying 'your mother is still buying milk for you'," she told AFP at the time. She befriended him and took care of him.

"What they saw on Facebook were old photos of Jumadil - so at first they weren't sure if it was really him," says his mother Susi.

"But when they read the details in the post about what he was wearing that day - a red striped shirt and that his pants were held up with a string because they were too big, that's when they knew it was the same boy."

A matching birthmark on the neck confirmed it was indeed Jumadil, setting the stage for a reunion.

"I couldn't sleep, I thought about him all night, wondering who saved my little boy," says Susi.

A reunion

Jumadil leaps off a motorbike into his mother's arms. Their emotional reunion after five long days is captured on film.

He clings to her while she smothers him in kisses, tears stream down both their faces. Jumadil crying so hard he is gasping for breath.

"He hugged me so tight like he never wanted to let go, his legs wrapped around me like a monkey," remembers Susi.

"We didn't speak. He was very scared. There were lots of people crowding around us. I just tried to show him that now everything was going to be alright."

Hundreds of children were separated from their parents in Palu GETTY IMAGES

She waited days before finally asking him what happened.

I asked him gently 'What happened that day, my little one? And he said 'I was playing in the sand and didn't understand why the whole world was shaking."

"So who picked you up, I asked? He said a police officer. We did try and find out who that was, but haven't been able to."

They believe he dodged the tsunami by a matter of minutes.

Jumadil reunited with his grandfather ADEK BERRY

Fikri is found

More days passed by and Fikri's family were close to giving up hope - when a social worker arrived at their door.

"They had a photo and they said - Mrs, is this your grandson? And it was him! We started telling everyone, 'they have Fikri. They have found Fikri!' We all gathered around and just cried and cried."

"They told us that he was alive and living in North Morowali - we had no idea how he had gone there."

He had ended up 500km away.

Fikri, shown here hugging his dad, had been washed up on the
side of a road UNICEF

It was not until they had Fikri in their arms, three weeks after he went missing, that the family understood how he had ended up there.

Twenty-year-old university student Kadek Ayu Dwi Mariati says she found Fikri on the side of the road.

He was injured. she remembers. and was crying out for his mother and father. He was only a wearing a t-shirt.

"To tell you the truth my first concern was saving my own life, I was in such a panic and was very scared," she said.

"But then I thought if I don't save this boy who will? I stopped and asked him where are your parents? He said they were gone and his house was destroyed, so I told him to come with me to higher ground."

When her parents reached Palu, a few days later, Fikri didn't want to leave her side.

"He didn't want to stay, he wanted to be with me. So he came home with us to our village," she says.

"I reported this to the police and social workers and told them if someone is looking for this child then he is with me. They told me, 'don't give him away to anyone' because there were fears of child trafficking at the time."

As the weeks past with no news her family built up a close bond with Fikri.

"He was a really good kid. Wasn't any trouble at all. I do really miss him now and was a little sad to see him go but at the same time I am so grateful, that it turns out, he had a family still alive to go home to," she says.

The miracle

Their reunion was also captured on film. His family was told by social workers to wait in a tent - no one speaks and they look at their hands nervously.

Then he was brought in. "Praise God," they cried as they hugged Fikri and held him tenderly.

Fikri was beaming, wearing a neat checked shirt and jeans.

"We cried and hugged and hugged him," Selfi recalled.

"I was so happy but also sad. I was filled with joy that Allah had given us more time with him but also sad that it was someone else that saved him. We could only cry and give thanks to Allah."

Fikri now lives with his parents UNICEF

The trauma

Fikri's parents have taken him back to live with them in Gorontalo. Schools are not back to normal in Palu and they want him close.

"He doesn't want to be left alone, even for a second, he said to us 'if you leave me and the earth shakes again where am I meant to go?," his mum Susila says over the phone.

"We have to wait for him outside the classroom. We don't talk about what happened. He just cries if it comes up. His older brother never came back."

His grandmother video calls with him often. "Show me your smile," she cries down the phone at him.

"Ah there you are! There is the most handsome boy in Gorontolo," she teases him.

Fikri's grandmother stays in touch with her grandson through video chats

Back to the beach

Jumadil too is still traumatised but each afternoon he has to go back to the same beach, to help his mother sell peanuts.

"He still has flashbacks, if the lights go off he jumps up and runs into my arms asking 'why are the lights off, Mum?' When the earthquake hit all the lights went off and it was black."

While we are talking at their stall another mother comes up and says her son was missing for four days.

He was caught up in the waves too, she says. Now it's a nightmare to get him to have a bath. He is terrified of water.

Jumadil's mother's peanut stall

While his mum serves the customer, Jumadil's grandfather, Daeng, takes him for a walk through the rubble.

He still can't quite believe his grandson has come back.

"It's hard for an everyday guy like me to get my head around it," he says.

"It's an absolute miracle he has come back"

"If you think about it logically it's amazing he was saved, given the power of the waves that destroyed everything. Buildings crumbled so humans shouldn't really have stood a chance. Lots of police officers died. I really want to know who saved our boy."

"It's an absolute miracle he has come back."

(Source: BBC)

Indonesia tsunami: Death toll could reach thousands, officials say

Aftershocks rattle island of Sulawesi as vice-president warns nation to expect significant rise in fatalities

The confirmed death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has risen to 832, and the vice-president, Jusuf Kalla, has warned it could reach into the thousands.

More than 150 aftershocks followed the 7.4-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Sulawesi on Friday, causing thousands of homes, hotels, shopping malls and several mosques to collapse.

Of the fatalities, 821 were in the city of Palu, with 11 casualties so far recorded in Donggala, the worst-hit area, which is home to 300,000 people. Hundreds of bodies have been found on beaches and authorities fear many may have been washed out to sea.

Speaking at a press conference, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for the BNBP disaster agency, said the area affected was much bigger than originally thought.

“The deaths are believed to be still increasing since many bodies were still under the wreckage while many have not able to be reached,” said Sutopo, emphasising that access to Donggala, as well as the towns of Sigi and Boutong, was very limited so the final death toll was impossible to predict.

The city of Palu has been completely devastated by the earthquake and tsunami waves, which reached as high as six metres in some areas. In the city, partially covered bodies lay near the shore and survivors sifted through a tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber, rubble and flotsam. One man was seen carrying the muddy corpse of a small child.

“Many corpses are scattered on the beach and floating on the surface of the sea,” one local resident, Nining, told local media. The identified bodies are being buried in mass graves, Sutopo said.

Sutopo confirmed there was no electricity in Palu and Donggala, while drinking water and fuel were running out. There was limited access to heavy equipment needed to help rescue efforts, so the search for people trapped in the rubble was mostly being carried out by hand.

Rescue efforts are continuing for dozens of people still trapped in the collapsed ruins of the eight-storey Roa Roa hotel in Palu, with voices heard screaming from the wreckage. “There are 50 people under the rubble of the building. Heavy equipment is needed for evacuation,” said Sutopo.

There were concerns about the whereabouts of hundreds of people preparing for a beach festival that had been due to start on Friday, a spokesman for the BNBP said.

At least 540 people had been badly injured, the agency said, as hospitals struggled to cope with the influx of casualties, setting up open-air clinics to treat the injured.

Dwi Haris, who suffered a broken back and shoulder, rested outside Palu’s army hospital, where patients were being treated outdoors due to the continuing strong aftershocks. Tears filled his eyes as he recounted feeling the violent earthquake shake the fifth-floor hotel room he shared with his wife and daughter.

“There was no time to save ourselves. I was squeezed into the ruins of the wall, I think,” said Haris, adding that his family was in town for a wedding. “I heard my wife cry for help, but then silence. I don’t know what happened to her and my child. I hope they are safe.”

Munculnya lumpur dari permukaan tanah yang menyebabkan amblasnya bangunan dan pohon di Kabupaten Sigi dekat perbatasan Palu akibat gempa 7,4 SR adalah fenomena likuifaksi (liquefaction) Likuifaksi adalah tanah berubah menjadi lumpur seperti cairan dan kehilangan kekuatan. pic.twitter.com/uxTODECMEX

— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) September 29, 2018

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who visited the region on Sunday, said earlier the military was being called to the region to help search-and-rescue teams.

One of the first casualties of the earthquake, 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung, is being hailed a hero after he stayed in the air traffic control tower as the earthquake hit, to make sure that a flight to Bali could take off safely. Agung then jumped from the control tower as it was collapsing, but did not survive the fall.

Many residents slept in makeshift shelters, terrified that the powerful aftershocks could topple their damaged homes.

Villagers view a ship swept ashore by tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photograph: Rio Mario/AP

Some voiced criticism of the agency that lifted the tsunami warning. The agency said it followed standard operating procedure and made the call to “end” the warning based on data available from the closest tidal sensor, about 125 miles (200km) from Palu.

“We have no observation data at Palu. So we had to use the data we had and make a call based on that,” said Rahmat Triyono, the head of the earthquakes and tsunami centre at BMKG. He said the closest tide gauge, which measures changes in the sea level, only recorded an “insignificant” 6cm wave and did not account for the giant waves near Palu.

The tsunami was triggered by a strong quake that brought down buildings and sent locals fleeing for higher ground as a churning wall of water crashed into Palu. “We all panicked and ran out of the house” when the quake hit, said Anser Bachmid, a 39-year-old Palu resident. “People here need aid – food, drink, clean water.”

Dramatic video footage captured from the top floor of a parking ramp in Palu, nearly 50 miles (80km) from the quake’s epicentre, showed waves bring down several buildings and inundate a large mosque.

About 17,000 people have been evacuated, the BNBP said.

“This was a terrifying double disaster,” said Jan Gelfand, a Jakarta-based official at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “We have heard nothing from Donggala and this is extremely worrying. There are more than 300,000 people living there. This is already a tragedy, but it could get much worse.”

Friday’s tremor was also felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia’s portion of Borneo island.

The initial quake struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country on the holiest day of the week, when mosques are especially busy.

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth. It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Earlier this year, a series of powerful quakes hit Lombok, killing more than 550 people on the holiday island and neighbouring Sumbawa.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of other deadly quakes including a devastating 9.1-magnitude tremor that struck off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004.

That Boxing Day quake triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

(Source: The Guardian)

Indonesia tsunami: Rescuers struggle to reach cut-off city, toll rises to 384

Hospitals struggling to cope as hundreds injured

Rescuers are struggling to reach Donggala, a city of nearly 300,000 people in Indonesia, after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami hit the coast of the country, killing at least 384 and injuring hundreds more.

Power and telecommunications to the region have been cut off and the roads are damaged, leaving officials unable to reach those in need.

Aid is also yet to reach the nearby town of Mamuju, which has been severely affected by the quake.

At least 384 people were killed in the hard-hit city of Palu, Indonesia's disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

A landslide has blocked a major road leading to Palu, the capital of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, according to the BBC, and a key bridge crossing a coastal river has also collapsed.

Thousands of homes as well as hospital buildings have been damaged in Palu. Hundreds have been injured, leaving medical staff overwhelmed.

Tens to hundreds of people involved at a beach festival are also missing, the disaster agency said earlier.

More than half of the 560 inmates in a Palu prison fled after its walls fell during Friday's quake, according to the warden, Adhi Yan Ricoh.

"It was very hard for the security guards to stop the inmates from running away as they were so panicked and had to save themselves too," he told state news agency Antara.

Ricoh said there was no immediate plan to search for the inmates because the prison staff and police were consumed with the rescue effort.

"Don't even think to find the inmates. We don't even have time yet to report this incident to our superiors," he said.

The 3m tsunami was triggered by the earthquake and smashed into two cities and several settlements on Sulawesi island at dusk on Friday.

In some places the water rose as high as 6m.

"We got a report over the phone saying that there was a guy who climbed a tree up to 6m high," Nugroho said.

Palu, which has a population of 380,000 people, was strewn with debris from fallen buildings, including a shopping complex and a large mosque.

A mosque in Palu was badly damaged (AP)

Waters from the tsunami left the mosque partially submerged.

The city is the capital of the Central Sulawesi province and is built around a narrow bay which is said to have magnified the force of the tsunami water as it travelled inland.

Indonesian TV broadcast footage, filmed on a smartphone, showing the moment that the wave hit the land, causing people to scream in fear and flee.

Bodies in Palu lay partially covered in tarpaulin and a man carried a dead child through the wreckage.

Mr Nugroho said essential aircraft can land at Palu airport but AirNav, which oversees aircraft navigation, said that the runway is cracked and the control tower damaged.

A 21-year-old air traffic controller was killed in the quake after he stayed in the tower to ensure a flight he had just cleared for departure got airborne safely.

"We hope there will be international satellites crossing over Indonesia that can capture images and provide them to us so we can use the images to prepare humanitarian aid," Mr Nugroho said.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo told reporters on Friday that  he had instructed the security minister to co-ordinate the government's response to the damage.

Residents carry a quake victim through Palu (AP)

He has also called on the country's military chief to assist with the search efforts and evacuations as needed.

United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said UN officials were in contact with Indonesian authorities and "stand ready to provide support as required".

Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes because of its location on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and faultlines in the Pacific Basin.

On 5 August, a powerful earthquake on the island of Lombok killed 505 people. Most died inside collapsing buildings.

The wave caused buildings to collapse (Reuters)

Another series of strong quakes in mid-August killed at least a dozen people on Lombok and Sumbawa, a nearby island.

In 2004, a huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean.

It killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

(Source: The Independent)

Papua New Guinea earthquake: Strong tremor off New Britain island

A strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake has struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea's New Britain island, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says.

Hazardous tsunami waves were forecast for some coastlines but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake struck some 162km (100 miles) from Rabaul, on New Britain island, at 07:25 on Friday (21:25 GMT Thursday).

The USGS originally estimated a shallow depth of 10km but later revised it to 35km.

Dellie Minding, a receptionist at the Rabaul Hotel in the east of New Britain, told Reuters news agency the earthquake had been felt, with many guests running outside, but there had been no damage.

At the Rapopo Plantation Resort on the coast, receptionist May Dovon said she had not heard of any casualties or damage, the agency adds.

"We felt the earthquake, everything was moving so we went out of the building," the receptionist told Reuters. "Nothing was damaged."

The country is still recovering from a magnitude 7.5 quake on 26 February.

At least 100 people died in Enga province, where massive landslides buried whole villages.

It took weeks to establish the full extent of damage in the remote, worst-affected areas.

(Source: BBC)

Tsunami warnings canceled after magnitude-7.9 earthquake off Alaska

Forecasters canceled tsunami warnings for Alaska and the US and Canadian west coasts Tuesday after an earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska stoked fears of damaging waves.

The tsunami alerts were canceled "because additional information and analysis have better defined the threat," said the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Small tsunami waves of less than 1 foot were reported in Alaska, the center said.

The minor tsunami was triggered by a magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck the Gulf of Alaska shortly after midnight. It was centered about 175 miles southeast of Kodiak, Alaska, at a depth of 15 miles, the US Geological Survey said.

Although the tsunami warnings were canceled, San Francisco officials warned residents to stay away from coastlines for 12 hours.

Shoreline areas, marinas and harbors may have "dangerous, strong & unpredictable currents," the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management tweeted.

Tsunami Watch CANCELLED in #SF, but shoreline areas, marinas, & harbors may have dangerous, strong, & unpredictable currents. Stay away from coastlines for at least 12 hours. Visit https://t.co/kvgkapMonx to learn more about tsunami preparedness. pic.twitter.com/Dq6D1c9jcR

— San Francisco DEM (@SF_emergency) January 23, 2018

'Whole town is evacuating'
Nathaniel Moore was on a commercial fishing boat in Kodiak when the quake hit. He said he felt it "shake really good for a minute." He and others on the vessel quickly got to shore and headed for higher ground amid the tsunami warning.

"The whole town is evacuating," he told CNN early Tuesday.

Tsunami sirens sounded in Kodiak, and police warned: "This is not a drill."

Though the tsunami warnings and evacuation calls were canceled, schools in Kodiak canceled classes Tuesday after campuses opened overnight as emergency shelters, the district announced via Facebook.

Wendy Bliss Snipes described the quake as "a slow roller, so it was felt for at least a minute before the real rolling started. Nothing fell off the walls, and I didn't have to wake my kiddo."

Heather Rand, who was in Anchorage, Alaska, told CNN that the earthquake felt like the longest she had ever experienced.

"It was a very long, slow build up. Creepy, more than anything. Definitely the longest, and I was born here," Rand said. She reported no damage besides cracks in the drywall.

Why this wasn't a lot worse
Both the earthquake and tsunami could have been much worse. But two key factors helped minimize damage.

First, the quake was centered out in the water, helping prevent catastrophic damage to structures on land.

Second, this quake resulted from a strike-slip fault -- meaning pressure built up as two plates moved horizontally, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

That's a lot less dangerous than a thrust fault, which happens when a plate displaces vertically.

"These are the quakes that produce the large tsunamis," Hennen said, such as the devastating 2011 quake and tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people in Japan.

(Source: CNN)

Massive 8.2 magnitude quake in Alaska sparks tsunami warnings across US

The earthquake struck 157 miles southeast of Chiniak, Alaska at a depth of 6.2 miles at 9.31 GMT, the US Geological Survey said

A HUGE 8.2-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska sparked tsunami warnings down the whole West Coast of the US and Canada today.

Residents in coastal towns close to the epicentre were woken in the night by warning sirens and urged to flee their homes for ground at least 100ft above sea level amid warnings of an “extraordinary threat to life”.

The 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck out at sea in the Gulf of Alaska

British Columbia in Canada, along with Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii were all put on tsunami watch – with San Franciscans told to prepare for a possible evacuation – although they have now been stood down.

And a tsunami warning for Alaska has now been downgraded – although locals who had fled were warned not to return home until the all-clear could be given.

Residents living close to the epicentre of the quake spoke of being woken in the dead of night by warning sirens.

Tsunami alarms rang out out across Kodiak, located about 157 miles north-west of where the tremor struck, prompting a massive evacuation.

What we know so far:

• An earthquake of 8.2 magnitude struck off the coast of Alaska at 9.30am GMT
• The quake triggered tsunami alerts along the whole US West Coast
• Residents living near the epicentre were woken by warning sirens in the dead of night
• Locals in towns like Kodiak were urged to flee their homes and head for higher ground at least 100ft above sea level
• A buoy out at sea near the epicentre detected a 32ft wave soon after the tremor
• Tsunami watches for British Columbia in Canada, along with Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii have been cancelled
• A tsunami warning for Alaska has been downgraded, although residents were told not to return to their homes until the all-clear had been given

Locals were seen fleeing the city in their cars as authorities ordered them to head to higher ground after a 32ft wave was detected out at sea.

Kodiak cop Sgt Beaver told social media users in the town: “This is not a drill, this is a tsunami warning. Everybody get at least 100ft above sea level.”

The Anchorage Office of Emergency Management warned those living in coastal areas of Alaska and British Columbia: "If you are located in this coastal area, move inland to higher ground.

"Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant inundation is possible or is already occurring.

"Tsunamis are a series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival time. The first wave may not be the largest."

This advice was earlier issued to people in the warning areas

Authorities sent out text message warnings urging people to flee to high ground

This chart explains the difference between tsunami watches and warnings

Meanwhile, Alaskans took to social media to tell of their terror at being forced to flee their homes in the night.

One Twitter user wrote: “Tsunami sirens going off in Kodiak after the earthquake, I usually only ever hear the weekly siren test at 2pm on Wednesdays so hearing it at 1am on Tuesday is actually terrifying!!”

Residents of Anchorage - Alaska's largest city located around 500 miles from the epicentre - said they were alerted to it by text messages.

"Shook the house pretty good and just kept going. Hope the people down south are alright."

Shaun Dyess wrote: "I’m here in anchorage Alaska. It was shaking for along time. Hope no one got hurt."

And JoLynn Lund tweeted: The #earthquake was enough to wake you. The #tsunami alert alarm gets you out of bed."

A map shows the estimated times a wave would take to reach different regions

Alaska Governor Bill Walker said: “We are closely monitoring the earthquake and tsunami warnings affecting many coastal communities this morning.

“I have been in contact with local officials, resident, and Major General Hummel and will remain in close communication with them throughout the day.

“Please heed local warnings to move inland or to higher ground.

“My thanks to first responders and media outlets across the state for going beyond the call of duty to keep Alaskans safe.”

What happens next?
People close to the epicentre of the quake were ordered to flee their homes and head to higher ground at least 100ft above sea level.

In Alaska, people packed into high schools and other evacuation centres after the quake hit shortly after midnight local time (9am GMT).

People have been asked to remain there and refrain from returning to their homes until the all-clear is given.

Has this happened before?
The infamous Good Friday Earthquake which hit Alaska in 1964 sparked numerous tsunamis inflicting heavy damage on Kodiak, along with Valdez, Whittier and Seward.

Anchorage – the biggest city in Alaska – was hit by multiple landslides, destroying city blocks and neighbourhoods.

An estimated 139 people were killed, most by tsunamis – including 16 deaths in Oregon and California.

(Source: The Sun)