The Ambacang hotel in Padang was reportedly packed with guests when the quake struck.
photo: Toby Zerna

Earthquake Magnitude 7.6 : Southern Sumatra Indonesia

Date             Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 10:16:09 UTC
Location       0.789°S, 99.961°E
Depth           80 km (49.7 miles) set by location program
Region         SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Distances    45 km (30 miles) WNW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
                    220 km (135 miles) SW of Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia
                    475 km (295 miles) SSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
                    960 km (590 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia 
                    Complete technical information available here

Death & Injury totals rise in Padang, as well as in Samoa, & Tonga
Earthquake Wiped Out Four Entire Villages, 650 buried by Landslides |  Read here

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 October, 2009 : - - As many as 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia, United Nations officials said Saturday. Local disaster management officials put the death toll from the quakes at 535. Earlier U.N. figures that put the death toll at 1,100 were just estimates, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, a U.N. humanitarian coordinator.

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck Sumatra on Wednesday and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Thursday morning in the same region. Wednesday's quake reduced buildings to rubble in the city. People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.

An area that now looks like a flattened mess of destruction was, just days ago, a group of three villages. Officials believe 90 percent of the residents -- as many as a few hundred people -- were buried, just one piece of the devastation from two large earthquakes that struck Indonesia in as many days. The stench of dead bodies fills the air. Full report CNN News

Surfer has lucky escape
Eric van Druten, a 31-year-old Australian surfer, said several of his friends were staying at the Ambacang and another hotel. He said he ran toward the swimming pool when the earthquake began to shake the building. "But the wall collapsed, so we had to get out. There is still a heap of people in the pool," he said.

One survivor who had been staying in Room 338 of the hotel sent a text message to relatives Friday, saying he and some others are still alive. The relatives then informed the authorities.

SurfAid launch Appeal
Padang, the gateway to the Mentawai Islands and where most of the surf charter boats are based, has been seriously damaged and the death toll is more than 1,100 and there are fears that thousands more are still trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.

SurfAid has gone into emergency mode and has staff doing assessments of the needs of the people in the coastal areas south of Padang, which are heavily populated and impoverished. SurfAid had Mentawai health program staff already in Padang and they have been reassigned to emergency work. SurfAid will respond to the immediate urgent needs with medical staff and supplies. SurfAid has eight doctors and three nurses preparing medical supplies. See report

> Padang Updates 03/10/2009
> As his world is torn apart, surfer videos his own apocalypse
> Gold Coast surfers offshore during Sumatra earthquake
> Quake landslides wipe out 3 villages in Indonesia
> Australian surfers missing in quake rubble
> Quake / landslide buried 4 entire villages, 650 dead 

Earthquake Magnitude 8.0 : Samoa Islands Region

Date           Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 17:48:11 UTC
Location     15.558°S, 172.073°W
Depth         18 km (11.2 miles) set by location program
Region        Samoa Islands Region
Distances   185 km (115 miles) ENE of Hihifo, Tonga
                   195 km (125 miles) S of APIA, Samoa
                   705 km (435 miles) NNE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga
                   2700 km (1670 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand 
                   Complete technical information available here 

Death toll in the Samoa islands and Tonga rises to 164 - More than 300 injured 

The confirmed death toll from the tsunamis that crashed into the Samoa islands and Tonga has risen to 164 with at least 16 more people unaccounted for as of Friday. There were 123 dead in Samoa, 32 in American Samoa and nine people were killed on a nearby island in Tonga. Doctors at the main hospital in Apia have treated more than 300 people for injuries and all but 50 had been discharged three days after the tragedy. Full report at iPrime

Tsunami waves approach American Samoa's Tafuna International Airport in Pago Pago : photo Reuters

Damge & destruction after the tsunami : photo AP

Damage in Si'umu Samoa : photo Dominion Post/AFP

Aerial of Hihifo on the western side of Tonga after the tsunami : photo AP

> Samoa Updates 03/10/2009
> Local Lismore man's tsunami shock

Typhoon Parma smashes northern Philippines

Typhoon Parma is bringing strong winds and heavy rain to northern parts of the storm-battered Philippines. However, it weakened and changed course as it neared and most of the country - including the flood-hit capital, Manila - is expected to escape major disaster. Earlier, President Gloria Arroyo declared a "state of calamity" and 33,000 people were told to leave homes.

Hundreds died as Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam last week. The latest storm, though, has taken a more northerly course, sparing the central areas worst hit by Ketsana, including Manila.

Related reports                         .                 .

Sumatra
Australian surfers still missing
Trapped quake victim sends text message

Samoa
tsunami uproots centuries-old villages and cultures

Tonga
Tsunami waves wreck Niuatoputapu

Philippines
Typhoon Parma changes direction
Typhoon Parma slams into northern Philippines

Asia
Destruction photo: Sumatra, Samoa & Tonga

Previous Reports:

Padang / Sumatra:
# 1 : 7.6 quake hits Sumatra, sections of Padang cut off
# 2 : Death toll soars past 400 after a second earthquake  
# 3 : Indonesian earthquake death-toll passes 1,100 mark
# 4 : Eyewitness surfer accounts from Padang earthquake  

Samoa / American Samoa & Tonga:
# 1 : Tsunami strikes after massive earthquake in SW Pacific 
# 2 : Samoa Tsunami: Salani Surf Resort is wiped out/gone 
# 3 : Samoan Tsunami: Kiwi surfer rides his way to survival

>  Padang Updates 01/10/2009
>  Sean Murphy of Waterways Surf Travel was in Indonesia .  ...  (click here)
>  Anxious wait for news of Australian surfer in Indonesia ...||  .    (click here)
>  Two Tracks mag employees feared dead in quake located.        (click here) 
>  Surf-Aid director Dr David Lange narrowly escapes death ..||    (click here) 
>  SurfAid launches Emergency Response Appeal for quake         (click here) 
>  Grave fears held for Australians surfing above the quake.         (click here)
>  10 Gold Coast surfers in Indo earthquake may be missing          (click here)
>  Earthquake Update from Chris 'Scuzz' at Sumatran Surfariis      (click here)
>  Martin Daly/Indies Trader reports on damage from his boat         (click here)

>  Padang Updates 02/10/2009
>  Eyewitness surfer accounts from Padang Earthquake                (click here)
>  Martin Daly (Aus) & Graeme De Hass (S Afr) phone reports       (click here) 
>  Quake on same fault line as tremor before 2004 tsunami...          (click here)
>  Pitstop Surf Camp reports in, okay with minor damage..   .           (click here)
>  Rick Cameron/Mentawai Sanctuary helping US Aid group  .         (click here)
>  Aussies Josh Symon, Andrew Bevan, Chris Scurrah OK..   .      (click here)
>  Koby Abberton, Bruce Irons, Jason Childs OK in Padang             (click here) 
>  Hopes fade for 100s trapped under collapsed buildings               (click here) 


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Earthquakes / Tsunamis - Surfersvillage