Minister Appreciates Work by Volunteers in Handling Aceh Earthquake

Meureudu, Aceh (Antara Bali) - Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa has appreciated the volunteer participation in the humanitarian work following the 6.5 magnitude earthquake in Aceh Province.

"I express my gratitude to all the volunteers. As I have seen, there are a great number of refugee camps that must be handled (by the volunteers)," the minister stated in Meureudu village, Pidie Jaya district, Saturday.

A lot of children including those of the primary school age badly need volunteers to support them to continue their schooling while staying in the refugee shelters, according to her.

"Imagine that in a shelter the number of refugees in the day time is around 1,300 but it can reach three thousand at night, who definitely need clean water and sanitation," the minister explained.

In addition, infants and children need protection which include basic needs such as milk and baby food, she reminded.
The epicenter of the quake which occurred early Wednesday (December 7, 2016) was located at 5.19 degrees northern latitude and 96.36 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km, and some 18 km northeast of Pidie Jaya.

The tremor occurred at 5:03am local time and was felt in Pidie Jaya, Pidie, Aceh Besar, Sabang, Bireun, and Lhokseumawe.

"Some 3,962 personnel have helped in handling earthquake victims in Pidie Jaya, Pidie and Bireuen," Head of Information and Data Center and Public Relations of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in a press statement received here Saturday.

As of Saturday afternoon, 101 people had died in the 6.5 magnitude quake which occurred early Wednesday morning, Sutopo noted.

Based on BNPB data, there are 45,329 evacuees, with 43,613 of them now in Pidie Jaya, and 1,716 in Bireuen, he said.

Some 108 shop houses had collapsed, 31 were heavily damaged, three moderately and 15 lightly damaged, while 2,992 homes had been heavily damaged, 94 moderately and 8,582 lightly damaged, he stated.

Some 64 mosques and other buildings had been damaged, while 14,800 meters of roads had cracked, and 55 bridges sustained damage, he also said. (WDY)