Another Quake in Indonesia

It does not look good

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - A powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's west coast late Monday, killing hundreds of people whose homes collapsed on them and spreading panic across the Indian Ocean that another killer tsunami was on the way. Indonesia's vice president predicted up to 2,000 deaths.

Almost all the deaths reported after the 8.7-magnitude quake were on Indonesia's Nias island, off Sumatra island's west coast and close to the epicenter. Police were pulling children's' bodies out of the rubble of collapsed houses, and a fire was reportedly raging in one town.

CNN link

I emailed our Missionaries in Bali, Indonesia, and they Emailed me back with this.

Please pray for the people of the island of Nias that has experienced an
earthquake of 8.7 magnitude. The two young men that work with me in Bali
that we are training for the ministry are from the island of Nias. Their
names are Herman Dachi and Otniel Lain. Also a recent new member of our
church, Herni is from the same island. At this time we do not know the
situation of their families. It's impossible to make contact because of the
power shortage and lack of communications. From Bali it takes five days to
reach the island so this is of great concern to us. Please pray their
families are safe. Reports say that 75% of the buildings on Nias have been
destroyed. It will be some time before we know for sure the extent of the
damage and the death toll. Thank you for caring and for praying.

75% of buildings? Wow havent these people suffered enough?

And this is sad, too:

"Australians killed in quake crash

Nias bore the brunt of Monday night's earthquake
Nine Australian military personnel were killed when their helicopter crashed during relief operations on the quake-hit Indonesian island of Nias.
Another two military personnel were seriously injured when the Sea King came down late on Saturday near the main town of Gunung Sitoli.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the incident was "heart-breaking" and would be investigated.

An estimated 1,300 people were killed in Monday night's earthquake.

Aid workers from around the world have arrived on the island to bring relief supplies and rescue survivors.



Click here to see the areas affected by the quake
The helicopter was from an Australian navy medical ship, the HMAS Kanimbla, which arrived at the island on Saturday, after providing tsunami relief for three months in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Those killed in the crash were five sailors from the Australian navy, three air force personnel and one army officer.

The pilot had not reported any problems before the crash.

"We're not sure (what went wrong). We know the helicopter was flying at low height about the time the crash occurred," Gen Peter Cosgrove told reporters in the Australia capital, Canberra......."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4404123.stm