News Asia-Pacific Quake effort shifts to survivors More than 30,000 homes, schools, mosques, hospitals anf offices were damaged in the quake [AFP] Rescue workers are continuing to sift through the rubble of collapsed buildings four days after a powerful earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
But hopes of finding anyone alive in the devastated town of Padang were diminishing on Sunday as the focus of the relief effort shifted towards providing for the survivors. "The rescue operation is winding up, moving on to recovery and how the people here in western Sumatra rebuild their lives and bury their dead," Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa, reporting from Padang, said.
Many people in the coastal town are sleeping rough after thousands of buildings were flattened. They are in desperate need of shelter, clean water and food. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, search and rescue experts and cleanup crews have arrived at airport in Padang, bringing tonnes of food, tents, medicine, clean water, generators and a field hospital.
More than 30,000 homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and government offices have been flattened or severely damaged, a total of 17 per cent of all local infrastructure.
However, some shops reopened on Sunday and electricity was restored to parts of the town.
'Stretched to the limit'
Others victims still require specialist treatment that overwhelmed medical facilities are struggling to provide.
In depth
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Rescuers lack equipment
Moment quake struck
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Quake warning ignored "It's a tragic situation but the medical facilities here are really stretched to the limit," Patrick Fuller, a spokesman for the Red Cross, told Al Jazeera from Padang. "It's a tragic situation but the medical facilities here are really stretched to the limit," Patrick Fuller, a spokesman for the Red Cross, told Al Jazeera from Padang. "They don't have some of the specialist equipment that they need for these kind of crush injuries, particularly where people have broken backs, they need to evacuated to specialist centres.
"We are hoping to get some more international teams in, possibly from Japan and Switzerland, who can support the government health services. But this is taking time and these people need treatment now."
Hundreds of doctors, nurses, search and rescue experts and cleanup crews have arrived at airport in Padang, bringing tonnes of food, tents, medicine, clean water, generators and a field hospital.
UN officials said that more tents and food were needed due to "huge levels of damage to infrastructure".
Villages 'swept away'
In outlying areas, where the full extent of the devastation is still being uncovered as rescue teams reach rural communities.
Many survivors are in desperate need of shelter, clean water and food [AFP] "We are seeing some villages affected, some villages not so affected," Fuller said.
"It depends were they are located. If they are on a hillside the houses are down, a lot of the villages have been wiped out pretty much.
"Its patchy, it is still hard to say how many people have been killed in this disaster, but thousands of people have been affected, no doubt."
The Indonesian disaster management has confirmed that at least 809 people have been killed or are missing, but with up to 4,000 people believed to be trapped under the wreckage of their homes and workplaces the toll is expected to rise.
Rescue teams and emergency aid are only just beginning reach these isolated villages, many of which were cut off by landslides.
Survivors are reported to have been forced to drink coconut water as their water sources are contaminated. "We are seeing some villages affected, some villages not so affected," Fuller said."It depends were they are located. If they are on a hillside the houses are down, a lot of the villages have been wiped out pretty much."Its patchy, it is still hard to say how many people have been killed in this disaster, but thousands of people have been affected, no doubt."The Indonesian disaster management has confirmed that at least 809 people have been killed or are missing, but with up to 4,000 people believed to be trapped under the wreckage of their homes and workplaces the toll is expected to rise.Rescue teams and emergency aid are only just beginning reach these isolated villages, many of which were cut off by landslides.Survivors are reported to have been forced to drink coconut water as their water sources are contaminated. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Am vierten Tage nach dem Erdbeben auf der indonesischen Insel Sumatra schwindet die Hoffnung, weitere Überlebende zu finden. Nach Behördenangaben wurden in den Bergdörfern im Bezirk Padang Pariaman mehrere Dörfer durch Erdrutsche verschüttet, manche Dörfer wurden bis zu 30 Meter hoch begraben. Die Dorfbewohner sind jedoch weitgehend auf sich gestellt, weil sich die Hilfsmannschaften auf die 900.000 Einwohner zählende Stadt Padang konzentrieren. Vielerorts graben sie mit den Händen nach Verschütteten. Bislang wurden 809 Leichen geborgen, mehr als 4.000 Personen werden noch vermisst. Die Region wird immer wieder von Nachbeben erschüttert, was die Rettungs- und Bergungsarbeiten erschwert. Unter den Toten sind mindestens 285 Bewohner im Bezirk Padang Pariaman.

In der Ortschaft Jumanak begrub ein Erdrutsch eine ganze Hochzeitsgesellschaft mit über 200 Gästen unter sich. Einer der Überlebenden, der 15-jährige Bruder der Braut, berichtete, dass seine Schwester zu den Hochzeitsfeierlichkeiten in ihr Heimatdorf zurückgekehrt war. Auch die Nachbardörfer Pulau Aiya, Lubuk Lawe und Limo Koto Timur wurden verschüttet. Die Überlebenden beklagten, bisher keine Hilfe von außen erhalten zu haben. Der 48-jährige Dola Jambak berichtete der Associated Press, sieben Verwandte verloren zu haben. „Alles was ich tun kann, ist auf die Suchteams zu warten. Aber sie kommen nicht.“

Der Manager des völlig zerstörten Hotels Ambacang in Padang, Sarana Aji, sagte in einem Interview, dass sich zum Zeitpunkt des Unglücks in dem Hotel 125 Gäste aufgehalten hatten. Er selbst habe sich retten können, weil er zu Beginn des Bebens aus der Lobby ins Freie gelaufen sei. Bislang wurden nur 29 Leichen aus den Trümmern des Hotels geborgen.

Datei:2009-09-30_South_Sumatra_earthquake_location.png|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Diese Karte des United States Geological Survey zeigt das Epizentrum nordwestlich von Jakarta. 
Viele Straßenverbindungen sind durch die Erdrutsche unterbrochen und erschweren so den Zugang für Rettungstrupps. Nach den Angaben des Katastrophenschutzzentrums wurden 485 Schulen und öffentliche Gebäude sowie über 83.000 Häuser völlig zerstört, weitere 100.000 Gebäude und rund 30 km Straßen wurden schwer beschädigt. Auch seien fünf Brücken eingestürzt. In Padang ist die Elektrizitätsversorgung unterbrochen, es gibt zu wenig Treibstoff, auch das Telefonnetz funktioniert nicht. Auch das behindert die Arbeit von Ärzten und Helfern. Diese beklagen vor allem, dass die örtlichen Gesundheitseinrichtungen auf die Katastrophe nicht eingestellt seien, insbesondere bei der Behandlung von Rückenverletzungen gebe es Engpässe, so Patrick Fuller, ein Sprecher des Roten Kreuzes zu Al-Dschasira.

Die indonesische Regierung hat inzwischen entschieden, künftig in erdbebengefährdeten Gebieten erdbebensichere Bauten zu errichten. Das Land liegt auf dem Pazifischen Feuerring und Erdbeben sind in Indonesien häufig. Es war das zweite Erdbeben innerhalb eines Monats in Indonesien, das Menschenleben forderte. Ein Erdbeben südlich von Java hatte am 2. September 82 Menschenleben gefordert.