SITUATION: The death toll from the Sept. 2 earthquake in West Java, Indonesia, has risen to 79, and only 29 of 50 bodies believed to be buried in a landslide in the Cianjur regency have been recovered, the Jakarta Post reported.
The 7.3-magnitude quake destroyed 445 houses and damaged 1,400 others, the Jakarta Post reported.
"Many people are still sleeping under only tarpaulins or tents as their homes lie in rubble or because they are afraid of aftershocks," ACT International reported today.
Lifter Marbun, a staffer with CWS partner Yayasan Tanggul Benkana Indonesia, said that displaced people are living under plastic tarpaulins and on bare ground, contracting serious health problems.
"Pneumonia, flu, fever, and other respiration problems are the major diseases that these people have. Nothing separates the plastic tarpaulins from the ground, making living conditions very humid and wet. The displaced people live in these conditions night and day," he said, quoted by ACT International.
CWS RESPONSE: As of Sept. 6, CWS Indonesia had completed non-food distributions in Tasikmalaya District (Cigalontang and Salawu subdistrict) and Garut District (Cisayong subdistrict). The items included: 26 family tents, 56 blankets, 136 plaited mats and 10 tarpaulins and rope.
CWS is responding in coordination with other ACT Indonesia members and with the UN and government authorities.
ACT International members, including CWS, are planning to work together with a focus on providing shelter, water and sanitation and psychosocial activities. A CWS-supported ACT appeal is expected to be issued shortly.
CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org