Aid groups descend on Indonesia quake zone; deaths reach 102

In this image made from video, rescuers use excavators to search for victims in the rubble of collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Humanitarian organizations descended on Indonesia's Aceh province Thursday as the government in Jakarta promised tons of emergency aid and officials raced to assess the full extent of damage from an earthquake that killed more than 100 people. (AP Photo)

An Acehnese man and a police officer survey the damage after an earthquake in Ulhee Glee, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Thousands of people in the Indonesian province of Aceh took refuge for the night in mosques and temporary shelters after a strong earthquake Wednesday killed a large number of people and destroyed dozens of buildings. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

A man salvages printed materials from under the rubble of a shop flattened in Wednesday's earthquake at a market in Meureudu, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of a devastated town in Indonesia's Aceh province early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake survivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts. (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)

Aid groups descend on Indonesia quake zone; deaths reach 102

MEUREUDU, Indonesia (AP) — Humanitarian organizations descended on Indonesia's Aceh province Thursday as the local disaster agency called for urgent food supplies and officials raced to assess the full extent of damage from an earthquake that killed more than 100 people.

Volunteers and nearly 1,500 rescue personnel concentrated their search on the hard-hit town of Meureudu in Pidie Jaya district near the epicenter of the magnitude 6.5 quake that hit before dawn Wednesday. But the small number of heavy excavators on the scene meant progress was slow. Humanitarian assessment teams fanned out to other areas of the district.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the death toll had risen to 102 and warned it could increase. Search teams were using devices that detect mobile phone signals within a 100-meter (yard) radius to help guide their efforts as they scoured the rubble. The disaster agency said more than 750 people were injured.

Acehnese men walk amid the rubble as they survey the damage at an Islamic boarding school badly hit by Wednesday's earthquake in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of the devastated town early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake survivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts. (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)

Those killed included very young children and the elderly. Mohammad Jafar, 60, said his daughter, granddaughter and grandson died in the quake but he was resigned to it as "God's will."
He was getting ready for morning prayers when the earthquake hit. He said he and his wife managed to push their way out through the debris. Another man said he found his 9-year-old daughter alive beneath a broken wall at his neighbor's house.
Thousands of people are homeless or afraid to return to their houses. Officials in Aceh said more than 8,000 people spent Wednesday night in shelters in Pidie Jaya district alone.

Killer quakes occur regularly in the region, where many live with the terrifying memory of a giant Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake that struck off Sumatra. The magnitude-9.1 quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 100,000 Acehnese.

Iskandar, a Disaster Mitigation Agency official in Aceh, said staple foods for women and babies are most urgently needed. He said medicines are sufficient for the time being because assistance is coming from the army, police, state-run companies and local governments.

"What's badly needed now are staple foods such as rice, cooking oil, salted fish and other foods," said Iskandar. He said people had complained about a lack of clean water, but the problem has been tackled and electricity supply is returning to normal in many areas.

Nugroho, at a news conference in Jakarta, listed as urgent food and clothing, specialist doctors for victims suffering fractures, medical equipment, temporary shelters and heavy excavation equipment.

The Indonesian government announced 50 tons of urgent aid for Aceh, including 10 generators, tents, folding beds, baby supplies and body bags.

"Every aid and civil society organization is piling into the area with as many boxes of rice, instant noodles, blankets and other aid as they can shift," said Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, which has an assessment team in northern Aceh.

It will take at least two more days before there's a fuller picture of how many people are displaced and the relief effort required, he said. On Twitter, the IOM said one mosque was sheltering 2,000 displaced women and children.

The military is setting up an emergency field hospital and sending two dozen doctors, and the Health Ministry is sending a medical team and medicines. The Red Cross sent aid such as water trucks on Wednesday and humanitarian group CARE is leading an assessment team of four international aid groups to avoid duplication of efforts. Aid groups and others are also appealing for donations.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about 19 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Sigli, a town near the northern tip of Sumatra, at a depth of 17 kilometers (11 miles). It did not generate a tsunami. Aftershocks have rattled the area.

The world's largest archipelago, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. The 2004 quake and tsunami killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Aceh.

Scores of rescuers and giant excavators worked away at the debris of a market in Meureudu, the hard-hit town, where many shop houses collapsed.

One shop owner, Hajj Yusri Abdullah, didn't hold out much hope of finding survivors. He said nearly two dozen bodies were pulled from the market debris the day before. They included a group of eight consisting of a newlywed couple and family members holding an ornate celebration known as Antar Dara Baro.

The national disaster agency said nearly 600 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed in the districts of Pidie Jaya, Pidie and Bireun. Most were shop houses or dwellings but mosques, a hospital, boarding schools and a shopping center also sustained damage. Roads also cracked and power poles toppled over.

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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini, Stephen Wright and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

A man surveys a damaged mosque after Wednesday's earthquake in Meureudu, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Thousands of people in the Indonesian province of Aceh took refuge for the night in mosques and temporary shelters after the strong earthquake killed a large number of people and destroyed dozens of buildings. (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)

Rescuers use machinery as they search for victims at a market collapsed in Wednesday's earthquake in Meureudu, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of a devastated town in Indonesia's Aceh province early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake survivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this image made from video, rescuers search for victims in the rubble of collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Humanitarian organizations descended on Indonesia's Aceh province Thursday as the government in Jakarta promised tons of emergency aid and officials raced to assess the full extent of damage from an earthquake that killed more than 100 people. (AP Photo)

In this image made from video, rescuers use an excavator to search for victims in the rubble of collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Humanitarian organizations descended on Indonesia's Aceh province Thursday as the government in Jakarta promised tons of emergency aid and officials raced to assess the full extent of damage from an earthquake that killed more than 100 people. (AP Photo)

A rescuer searches for victims under the rubble of a market collapsed in Wednesday's earthquake in Meureudu, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. Rescue workers, soldiers and police combed through the rubble of a devastated town in Indonesia's Aceh province early Thursday, resuming a search for earthquake survivors that was halted at night by rain and blackouts. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)