Quake rocks Sumatra Island as US Relief Copter Crashes
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

BANDA ACEH (Indonesia): A strong earthquake shook buildings and sent people scrambling from their homes early on Monday in Banda Aceh, an Indonesian city devastated by the massive quake and tsunami two weeks ago.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the temblor, which struck off the northern coast of Sumatra island at 5:13 a.m. (22:12 GMT) on Sunday.

The magnitude 6.2 quake was centered at a depth of about 14 kilometers (8.9 miles) under the seabed in the Indian Ocean, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh. No other details were available.

Helicopter Crashes

Meanwhile, a US helicopter crashed and a strong aftershock struck off Indonesia's traumatised Sumatra island Monday as aid groups struggled to reach survivors of the tsunamis that killed more than 156,000 people around Asia.

At least four crew were injured when a US navy Sea Hawk helicopter carrying aid crashed into a paddy field shortly after dawn as it flew from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier moored off the Sumatra coast, officials said.

Navy relief operations on the northern tip of Sumatra, where more than 100,000 people were killed in last month's disaster, were briefly suspended following the crash, the cause of which was not immediately known.

US navy spokesman John Bernard said all 10 people on board survived and had been returned to the Lincoln for medical attention.

Dozens of US military aircraft and vessels were rushed to Indonesia, the country worst affected by the December 26 catastrophe, to take part in one of the largest ever international humanitarian operations.

The helicopters have been a lifeline for many people trapped in isolated stretches of coastline obliterated by the full force of the onrushing water.

Despite the unprecedented aid effort, rescue workers fear some survivors in more isolated parts of Aceh may still be awaiting help.

The first United Nations team, totalling five people arrived in the remote west coast town of Meulaboh on Sumatra two weeks after it was almost totally destroyed by the Tsunami.

US marines also arrived in Meulaboh, using a hovercraft and Chinook transport helicopters to bring water, rice and timber to the town where more than 28,000 people were killed.

The UN, racing to prevent outbreaks of disease, said it was rushing vaccines to Aceh after confirming a case of measles.

In a rare glimmer of hope, Malaysian officials said an Acehnese man swept out to sea by the tsunamis two weeks ago had been rescued by a passing ship.

The 22-year-old was picked up by an Omani cargo vessel, a spokeswoman for Malaysia's Westport harbour said without giving details of the rescue.

However, in an ominous reminder of the trigger of the tragedy, a strong earthquake was recorded off Sumatra at 6:18 am (2218 GMT Sunday) close to the site of the massive quake that unleashed the tsunamis.

The earthquake, with its epicentre initially determined to be at sea about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, was estimated to measure 6.2 on the Richter scale, the Hong Kong Observatory said in a statement.

Injured and bereaved children returned to classes in Indonesia and Sri Lanka while in Sweden, which has 2,000 people missing, some chairs stood empty as schools reopened after the Christmas holidays.

The Aid

Meanwhile, with billions of dollars already promised in aid, French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard said the Paris Club of creditor nations had also agreed on a moratorium on debt repayments for countries hit by the tsunami.

For a country such as Indonesia, a freeze on its debt payments for 2005 would give Jakarta additional resources for relief and reconstruction "to the tune of three billion dollars, that's not negligible," said the minister.

But shattered survivors said that cash needs to start filtering through to them now, if people are to be able to rebuild their torn lives.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on a visit to Jakarta indicated his country and others may be willing to cancel some of Indonesia's foreign debt to help it overcome the disaster.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda, who is visiting London, also called for further debt relief to ensure the disaster did not derail other national priorities.

Despite the global outpouring of funds, questions of distribution, logistical coordination and even politics continue to hang over recovery efforts expected to last years.

Local insurgencies also continue to be serious complications in efforts to help Indonesia, where the government said 77,000 people remain missing on Sumatra island, and Sri Lanka.

Rights groups have warned Jakarta's military campaign to crush a long-running rebellion in Aceh and restrictions on aid groups were hindering relief efforts.

World conference for Tsunami warning system in Japan

Installing a tsunami early warning system in Asia will be the major focus of discussion at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction to be held at Kobe in Japan January 18-22.

"Early warning was always going to be a main subject to be discussed at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction.

Now, this subject is all the more relevant following the devastation that occurred on December-26 in South Asia," said Salvano Briceño, director of the secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

Two extra sessions on early tsunami warning have been scheduled at the meeting.

Small Islands Demand

And a story from Port Louis says that the UN conference on small islands opened in Mauritius on Monday with a call to set up an early warning system in the wake of the tsunami disaster in Asia that left more than 156,000 dead.

"We meet here in Mauritius at a time of terrible death and destruction caused by the Asian tsunami two weeks ago," said UN official Anwarul Chowdhury as he opened a week-long UN conference on small islands.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to attend the conference later this week after touring the Maldives, a cluster of 1,192 low-lying islands scattered across the Indian Ocean that was hard hit by the December 26 tidal waves.●