Earthquake in Indonesia

By IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writer 27 minutes ago

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake flattened buildings in central Indonesia early Saturday, killing several hundred, injuring thousands and leaving overburdened hospitals appealing for help.

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 5:54 a.m. near the city of Yogyakarta, 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta, as many people slept, causing death and damage there and in nearby towns, officials said.

"It felt really powerful, and the whole building shook," said Narman, a receptionist at a hotel in Yogyakarta. "Everyone ran from their rooms."
Eight hours after the quake struck, Social Affairs Ministry official Andriana, who goes by just one name, put the death toll at 1,325.

The Indonesian Red Cross said it had confirmed 446 deaths, adding that it had not been able to reach officials in the most devastated areas.
"Their (government) death toll is very possible," said Arifin Muhadi, head the Red Cross' disaster division. "We just don't know yet."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the army to help evacuate victims, as panicked residents ran into the smoldering streets, many clutching young children. He said he would head to the disaster zone in Central Java province later in the day.
In the chaos that followed the quake, rumors of an impending tsunami sent thousands of people on Java fleeing to higher ground in cars and motorbikes. But Japan's Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a killer wave.

The quake also triggered heightened activity in nearby Mount Merapi volcano, which has been spewing out clouds of hot ash, gas and lava for several weeks, a scientist said.
The Red Cross said more than 2,800 people were injured in the temblor, many from collapsed homes and buildings, and regional hospitals put out an appeal for assistance.

"Please tell the central government to send help, we need help here," said Kusmarwanto of Bantul Muhammadiyah Hospital, the closest hospital to the quake's epicenter.

"There so many casualties. Houses ... are flattened. Many people still need to be evacuated," he said, adding that his hospital alone had 39 dead bodies and the numbers were rising.
Witnesses at hospitals said hundreds of injured were arriving for emergency treatment, many with broken bones and cuts.

TV footage showed damaged hotels and government buildings, and several collapsed buildings.
The quake cracked the runway in Yogyakarta's airport, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said.

Electricity and communications were also down in parts of the city, police said.
The quake's epicenter was close to the Mount Merapi, which has been rumbling for weeks. Activity increased as a result of the temblor, with one eruption soon after the earthquake sending debris some 2 miles down its western flank, said Subandrio, a vulcanologist monitoring the peak.

"The quake has disturbed the mountain," he said.
There were no reports of injuries as a result of the eruption.

Activity at Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has picked up in recent weeks and almost all villagers living near the danger zone have been evacuated.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A magnitude 9.1 earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, under the sea off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island triggered a tsunami that killed more than 131,000 people in nearby Aceh province, and more than 100,000 others in nearly a dozen other countries