Shop owners searching for their belongings on Thursday in the ruins of a building destroyed by an earthquake in Chinatown, Padang, West Sumatra. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG)
Indonesia’s government has approved 26 million dollars in cash aid to help victims of a massive earthquake that may have left thousands dead on the island of Sumatra, the finance minister said Thursday.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the allocation of Rp 250 billion would be enough for two months of relief operations in the area of the Wednesday quake, which caused devastation in the coastal city of Padang and its surrounds.
The 7.6-magnitude quake would likely hurt the domestic economy and affect Indonesia’s state budget, Indrawati said.
Padang is home to nearly one million people.
“It will certainly have an effect as Padang and the surrounding areas are areas that have potential to contribute to the economy and the budget,” she added.
At least 529 people were killed in the quake, officials confirmed, but that figure is expected to rise as thousands remain trapped in collapsed buildings.
Officials said they were suffering from a desperate shortage of heavy machinery, but added that aid including tents, blankets and medicine had been sent to the disaster site.
AFP
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