The death toll in Sumatra has now reason to more than 750 with thousands more reported injured and still missing. The earthquake that struck on Thursday caused major damage  to buildings and infrastructure in the Padang region, with thousands of people still trapped under the rubble. Aid work is being hampered by damaged infrastructure and the lack of electricity, running water and fuel.

Listen to a Newsline interview with Andry Wasesa of the IBU Foundation:

The first earthquake victims are being buried in West Sumatra, as aid workers hunt for survivors among the rubble. The people of the Indonesian island of Sumatra have had to endure two earthquakes in 24 hours. In the port of Padang hundreds of buildings have collapsed and people are fleeing the city.

Footage from Padang tells a story of devastation and chaos. Collapsed houses, barely passable streets and thousands of people driving or walking in the same direction, away from the danger. Planes are able to land again at Padang’s airfield, but roads to the city are impassable.

The first quake took place on Wednesday at 17.16 local time. Programme Director Andry Wasesa of The IBU Foundation, an aid organisation founded after the 2004 tsunami, says aid workers from his organisation arrived in the region a few hours after the earthquake struck.

"We hear more than 600 people are now confirmed dead, with probably thousands of people still buried under the rubble," he told Radio Netherlands Worldwide. "The area around Padang is even worse, with 80 percent of the buildings destroyed."

A major aftershock, which happened overnight, caused further damage, Mr Wasesa says. "Although it was of a smaller scale than the first earthquake, it made people even more scared and worried."

Difficult
In Padang, with a population of one million, around 500 homes, schools and major buildings have collapsed. Fears in low-lying coastal areas that the quake would be followed by Tsunami were not realised.

Circumstances for aid workers are difficult, as there is virtually no access to the area by land. "We can only get there by ship or plane," Mr Wasesa says. "What we found was that there are problems with electricity, running water and fuel, but food is still available."

IBU will provide medical assistance to victims and will help in distributing food and other aid.

Cordoned off
Dutchman Klaas de Jong, who lives in Padang, told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that police has cordoned off the city centre to enable aid and rescue workers to continue their search for victims and survivors. "I can see many bulldozers, cranes and other machines there", he says. "But many buildings have collapsed. We have several three and four star hotels here, and they're all gone".

Electricity has been cut off since the earthquake struck and there's also a problem with running water.

Panic
"We are used to small earthquakes here, but this one was different", he continues. "I was in my car and I moved sideways from left to right, but also up and down. I had never experienced that before. I saw electricity poles falling, dust clouds caused by explosions and collapsed shops around me", Mr De Jong recalls.

"There was major panic. People went absolutely crazy, they were all trying to get out of the city as soon as possible". He eventually managed to arrive safely at his home in the suburbs of Padang. “This morning the first funerals were already underway and new graves were also being dug.”

Earlier, one of Radio Netherlands Worldwide's partner stations in the city, PCA Radio, told our Indonesian department that the situation in the city is "very serious" and that thousands of buildings, offices and houses had been destroyed.

Overwhelmed
A second serious earthquake hit on Thursday morning. The epicentre was again out to sea, to the west of Sumatra. Pariaman, a city with a population of 80,000, was worst hit.

Speaking on Indonesian radio, Mayor Fauzi Bahar said 80 percent of Pariaman’s buildings have been destroyed. "We are overwhelmed with victims and the lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications. We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Relatives
For Indonesians with relatives in the area, news is hard to come by. Hotel owner Haswirman is currently following a course in the Netherlands. His wife and children live in the hotel complex Ina Muara in Padang, which has been severely damaged. He is desperate because as yet he has heard nothing from them. “I ask you, my friends, if you know anything about my family and my hotel, at least send a text message, to put my mind at ease.”

Indonesian TV footage:

2004
A 9.15 magnitude quake, with its epicentre roughly 600 km (373 miles) northwest of Padang, caused the 2004 tsunami which killed 232,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and other countries across the Indian Ocean.
 

Geologists have long said Padang may one day be destroyed by a huge earthquake because of its location.
 

Some experts have long said Indonesia needs to do more to reduce the risk of catastrophe.

Additional reporting by Philip Smet

Photos by  Uda Yudi "kuda Liar" Febrianda/IBU Foundation and ANP