Another Earthquake, Another Tragedy for Indonesia

"The challenge is the affected area is spread out -- "

"On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged."

"[Many of the victims were children at school at the time the quake hit]."

Henri Alfiandi, head, National Search and Rescue Agency

 

"Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child."

"Two of my kids survived. I dug them up ... Two others I brought here [Cianjur hospital, in Cianjur, Indonesia] and one is still missing."

Cucu, 48, Cianjur resident

 

"At leas six of my relatives are still unaccounted for; three adults and three children."

"If it was just an earthquake, only the houses would collapse, but this is worse because of the landslide."

"In the residential areas there were eight houses, all of which were buried and swept away."

Zainuddin, Cugenant resident

Rescuers carry a body bag with a victim through the rubble of collapsed buildings during a rescue operation after earthquake hit in Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia, November 22, 2022, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Yulius Satria Wijaya/ via REUTERS

Indonesians live with the potential danger of earthquakes and resulting tsunamis. That ever-present danger and the island group's history of catastrophic events killing thousands of people over the years never prepares anyone for the new earth-shaking events that erupt from time to time, killing more people. As tremblors go, this was a relatively modest earthquake, but it was so close to the surface that its effects were devastating.

 

The earthquake that struck West Java killed 268 people, with the prospect of many more being found not to have survived an ensuing landslide that destroyed many buildings. Many of the dead were children in classrooms when the quake's effect created chaos and turmoil and unspeakable destruction. Days after the quake, 151 children were still missing as rescue teams worked unflaggingly to try to free those trapped in the earthquake rubble, hoping to find survivors.

 

The most populous province was struck on Monday afternoon with significant damage from a shallow 5.6-magnitude quake. Significant damage resulted in the town of Cianjur, some 75 kilometres from Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. At least one village is known to have been buried under a landslide that followed the quake. 

 

It was reported that over a thousand people were injured, and 58,000 people displaced, while 22,000 house were damaged. Rescue efforts were  hampered by landslides and rough terrain. Strong earthquakes of magnitude 6 or 7 are common enough in Indonesia, mostly offshore where fautt lines run, but this quake of a lower magnitude resulted in deadly consequences simply because it struck land at fairly shallow depth.

 

Many of the dead were killed when the poorly constructed buildings they lived in collapsed. Now, after the fact, and with a long history of vulnerability to earthquakes, President Joko Widodo is calling for earthquake-proof housing in reconstruction. "My instruction is to prioritize evacuating victims that are still trapped under rubble", he announced.

 

In the town of Cianjur, survivors gathered in the hospital parking lot where the injured were treated in tents while others were hooked up to intravenous drips on the pavement, medical workers stitching up patients under torch light in the night. "Many bodies are lying in the hospital grounds, it's very crowded", observed one individual whose relative was being treated. In one area of the hospital parking lot people held up cardboard signs pleading for food and shelter in the absence of the delivery of emergency supplies.

 

One of the worst-hit areas was Cugenang, struck by a landslide the quake had triggered. Footage of people digging into the earth and the rubble of destroyed buildings by hand using hoes, sticks, crowbars and other tools were shown on television news channels. In some areas rescue efforts were complicated by outages in electricity. In the wake of 145 after-shocks, officials warned of more landslides in coming weeks.

 

A man carries an injured child to receive treatment at a hospital, after an earthquake hit in Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia, November 21, 2022, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Yulius Satria Wijaya via REUTERS

Watch: Erdogan Yells Anti-Israel Slur, Assaults Protester

by Tova Dvorin and Ari Soffer   -- Arutz Sheva, 16 May 2014

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made media headlines Thursday, after he screamed an anti-israel slur before sending his security forces to beat a protester. 

A Turkish citizen approached Erdogan and his security team as they visited Soma Thursday, in the wake of a catastrophic mining accident that killed nearly 300 people. Erdogan responded with anti-Semitic violence. 

"Why are you running away from me - Israeli sperm!" he shrieked, slapping the protester, in video footage uploaded to Sozcu TV. The word "sperm" is seen as a particularly offensive insult in Turkish. The footage later shows security forces beating the man.

The incident came the same day that Yusuf Yerkel, one of Erdogan's advisers, was caught on camera kicking a protester in Soma. The man was being held down on the ground by two Turkish soldiers at the time; witnesses say Yerkel got in three to four kicks on the prone man. The photograph sparked rage in Turkey, and ignited more protests.

Frustration has spilled over in Turkey following the mining accident, which unfolded in a dramatic media flurry as rescuers attempted to save more than 700 people overnight. 450 people were eventually saved, but hundreds more were killed in the explosion. 

Protesters vented their rage en masse across Turkey Wednesday and Thursday, claiming that Turkey's mining records are less than safe and blaming statewide negligence for the accident. 

Erdogan himself seemed to shrug off the significance of the accident late Wednesday, sparking even more fury among Turkish citizenry. 

"Explosions like this in these mines happen all the time," he insisted. "It's not like these don't happen elsewhere in the world."

Several protests turned violent, with police cracking down on the demonstrations with tear gas and water cannons. 

Erdogan's anti-Israel comments come despite the fact that Israel both offered condolences to Istanbul over the mining accident and offered to send a fully equipped Magen David Adom (MDA) team to the disaster site - the only country to do so thus far. 

Concerns have been raised over growing anti-Semitism in Turkey, which locals blame on the power and influence of Islamist parties. Cooling diplomatic relations between the two countries, following the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident are also to blame, local leaders say - making the 15,000 strong Jewish community uneasy. 

Erdogan himself has a long public record of anti-Semitic statements. In 1998, prior to his stint as PM, Erdogan - then mayor of Istanbul - infamously declared that "the Jews have begun to crush the Muslims in Palestine, in the name of Zionism. Today, the image of the Jews is no different than that of the Nazis."

More recently, Erdogan accused Israel of being behind the ouster of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi. 

The "Profession's Fate"

"We are worried that this death toll will rise. I have to say that our hopes are dimming in terms of the rescue efforts."
"We are dealing with an incident that might result with the highest worker loss ever in Turkey. We still want to hope that miners have found small caves to hide in to breathe and survive."
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz

"All the workers here and the people stuck inside that mine are our friends. We know their wives, their children, their whole families in fact. They are like brothers to us."
"We know there's going to be no one left down there. But we feel the responsibility to bring these bodies back to their families."
Erhan Aydemir, 33, mine worker

"At least 770 people went down, and none of us could yet reach the exact location of the blast. We are not even counting outsiders who come here as part-time, unregistered workers."
"Even after only two sections, where machines and people operated together, were emptied, the death toll is still higher than what has been announced."
"There are other sections where we entirely rely on manpower and have no idea how many people were stuck there at time of the blast."
Bayram Yilmaz, 44-year-old miner, retired

"Even with a gas mask, it is hard to survive. When a power distribution unit explodes, power goes off; when power goes off, ventilation breaks down; when ventilation breaks down, air circulation stops, and so do chances to live."
"We received training as to how to reach up to fresh air in 45 minutes wearing a gas mask. You cannot climb up 1.5 kilometres in 45 minutes."
Sami Kilic, nine years of working at the Soma mine

People dig graves Thursday for miners who died in an explosion in Soma, Turkey. Anger over what's being called the deadliest industrial accident in the country's history has set off protests nationwide.

According to International Labour Organization statistics, 1,172 mining deaths were reported in 2001-2012 in Turkey, represent roughly one hundred deaths on an annual basis. The State-run statistics institute claims 10.4 percent of all work accidents are related to mining. Britain, whose mining sector is known for a large number of fatalities historically, had an average of six mining deaths annually in 2007-2012, by comparison.

The death toll stands now at 282 in Tuesday's coal mine explosion and fire at the Soma coal mine in Turkey. According to Turkish officials 363 miners were rescued, some of them injured. The government claims that up to 150 miners remain unaccounted for while hundreds of relatives and miners wait outside the mine's entrance, around a heavy police presence. The deaths, according to authorities, were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Riots broke out in Istanbul and Ankara, the capital, protesting the government's handling of the disaster. Stones were hurled at police and they in turn used tear gas to disperse protesters. President Erdogan was called a "thief", and a "murderer". In a news conference he expressed his sympathy with the bereaved families: "We as a nation of 77 million are experiencing a very great pain." 

When it became clear that he was the recipient of much of the criticism, he added: "Explosions like this in these mines happen all the time. It's not like these don't happen elsewhere in the world", he complained. They most certainly do, but not with the frequency and the devastating outcome that Turkey experiences. The country is well known for its lax regulations in the mining industry. And there was a warning given not long before this explosion that the government needed to tighten safety regulations.

And nor did he particularly endear himself after a 2010 accident killing 30 miners when he expressed his opinion that death came with the territory: "part of the "profession's fate". In this particular instance, the explosion came just at a time when workers were preparing for a shift change. There are no hard figures about how many people were actually in the mine, as a result. And that special circumstance is certainly responsible for raising the death toll.

Riot police run away from the flames of a fire bomb thrown by protesters as they demonstrate to blame the ruling AK Party (AKP) government on the mining disaster in western Turkey, in Ankara May 14, 2014. (Reuters)