Quake Hits Tsunami-devastated Nias Island

Jakarta, Indonesia | 30.03.2005 | ANN/APD | International

Three months after the December 26, 2004, tsunami hit North Sumatra, Nias Island, with nearly 1 million residents, was devastated by an earthquake on March 28, March 28, with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake epicenter was 18.6 miles deep in the sea.

The governor of North Sumatra said more than 1,000 people perished as of March 29. It further reported that 90 percent of the residents suffered the devastation and 80 percent of homes and buildings were destroyed at Gunung Sitoli, the capital of Nias Island.

Nias is about 1,400 km (850 miles) northwest of Indonesia's capital Jakarta and has a population of some 700,000.

An Indonesian disaster official said that about 200 to 300 people also died on the isolated Banyak island group just north of Nias. "But we have not received further information about the homeless and wounded," said Nerli Sulitiani, an official with the national disaster agency in the northern city of Medan.

Jannus Hutapea and Stefanus Suwandi, family members of Seventh-day Adventist lay leaders, were buried in the rubble, and their homes were among those wrecked, according to Djoko Suwarso, communication director of the Adventist Church in West Indonesia.

Similar to the humanitarian response to assist tsunami victims in nearby Aceh, the Nias earthquake brought the human face of Christianity to all who find themselves affected by the tragedy. Immediately after the news reached Jakarta, lay leadership of the church in the country's capital reacted promptly by appealing to 10,000 church members to help.

"We must not only pray, but should assist practically by offering food and material help," said Tourisman Siahaan, lay leader in Jakarta.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Sumatra, in the district of Sibolga, has become the center of relief operations to help survivors of the disaster.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. Among Christian denominations, there are nearly 210,000 Adventist Christians worshiping in 1,700 local congregations. [Editors: Jonathan Catolico, Ray Dabrowski and Christian B. Schaeffler for ANN/APD]

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