Second massive quake rattles devastated Sumatra

  
AFP - A massive earthquake in Indonesia is feared to have killed thousands, authorities said Thursday as rescue workers dug with their bare hands to reach those trapped alive under rubble.

The first flights laden with food, medicine and body bags began arriving in the devastated region on Sumatra island, even as another powerful quake struck further south, sending residents fleeing their homes in panic.

Wednesday afternoon's 7.6-magnitude earthquake caused buildings to crumble and fires to rage in Padang city, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra, which was left largely without power and communications.

The official death toll stands at 464 dead with 105 injured, but those numbers were expected to soar as the full scale of the tragedy unfolds.

"Our prediction is that thousands have died," Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya said.

Rescue teams from the Indonesian army and health ministry descended on the city and surrounding towns to hunt for those still alive, in the twisted wreckage of collapsed buildings and homes.

In pouring rain, overwhelmed police and soldiers were clawing through the wreckage of schools, hotels and at least one major hospital that buckled in the quake.

In front of one collapsed school, 49-year-old mother Andriana waited in tears as police picked through the rubble for her 14-year-old daughter and dozens of other children believed trapped inside.

"I've been waiting here since yesterday. I haven't been home yet and keep praying to God my daughter is alive," she said, her reddened eyes darting back and forth from the rubble.

Police said that the bodies of eight children had been hauled from the school, a tuition college where they had been taking extra classes, while another nine youngsters had emerged alive.

Authorities said they were suffering from a desperate shortage of heavy machinery, but had received help from over 200 military and government health specialists.

"We have sent eight tonnes of medicine, eight tonnes of baby food, 630 body bags, 200 medical specialists and tents," Pakaya said.

Military spokesman Sagom Tamboen said that planes loaded with tents and blankets had already been despatched to help the thousands believed displaced by the disaster.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, briefing reporters in Tokyo as he returned from the G20 summit in the United States, urged officials to "flood" the city with aid and medical relief.

British-based charity Oxfam said it had already earmarked 200,000 pounds (320,000 dollars) for relief efforts, including the distribution of emergency shelters, hygiene kits and clothing.

Terrified residents rushed from their homes and ran through the streets after the quake struck off Sumatra's west coast at 5:16 pm (1016 GMT), 47 kilometres (29 miles) northwest of Padang.

It was felt in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, 940 kilometres (585 miles) away, and sent frightened office workers streaming out of buildings in nearby Singapore and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Dozens of aftershocks followed, including the major one Thursday which the US Geological Survey measured at 6.8 and said hit on land 225 kilometres (140 miles) southeast of Padang.

Indonesian authorities measured the quake at 7.0 magnitude but said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Indonesian earthquakes followed a massive 8.0-magnitude tremor that spawned a deadly tsunami in the Samoan islands of the South Pacific.

Like Indonesia, the islands sit on the volatile "Ring of Fire," a massive zone of volcanic instability that encircles the Pacific.

Geologists said Padang was vulnerable to more quakes and tsunamis, and that the recent seismic activity could even set off three major volcanoes in West Sumatra.

Padang lies on the same tectonic faultline that cracked off Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, in 2004 to trigger the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people.