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Indonesia Quake Toll Passes 1,000

Samoa tsunami cleanup effort begins in earnest

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 1, 2009 1:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – The death toll in Indonesia has reached 1,100 and is expected to keep rising. Rescue workers are scrambling to find earthquake survivors under trapped buildings, with "many hundreds more" injured or missing, says a top UN relief official. Rescue efforts have been hung up over a shortage of heavy equipment, along with damaged roads, bridges, and hospitals, reports the BBC. Further clouding the picture, a 6.8-magnitude quake struck this morning; no casualties have been reported as a result.

"It's just such a vast area to be working in with such bad infrastructure," said a Red Cross official. Meanwhile, tsunami-recovery efforts proceeded in the Samoas, where the death toll has exceeded 150. Relief organizations are speeding supplies to the US territory and adjacent nation devastated by the wave. "Everything the tsunami touched was just destroyed," a local resident tells USA Today. "This thing hit with all its fury."

Indonesian youths sit on the roof of a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Indonesian soldiers and rescue workers search for earthquake victims in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

A boy stands near a flattened building in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Resquers carry the body of a woman in Padang, West Sumatra. (AP Photo/Fitra Yogi)

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Indonesia Quake Toll Passes 1,000

Samoa tsunami cleanup effort begins in earnest

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Indonesia Issues Tsunami Warning After 6.8 Quake

Temblor struck off Papua New Guinea

South Pacific Avoids Tsunami After Big Earthquakes

Warning issued after off Vanuatu, canceled after only small wave materializes

Landslides Wipe Out 4 Indonesian Villages

Another 640 people feared dead in remote areas

Miracle Rescue Lifts Hopes for 3,000 Trapped in Quake

Hopes dim as new emergency teams arrive in Indonesia

Fresh Quake Rattles Tonga

6.3 shaker jolts islands as relief efforts continue

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Indonesia Quake Toll Passes 1,000

Samoa tsunami cleanup effort begins in earnest

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Indonesia • South Pacific • tsunami • Pacific Ocean • Padang • Sumatra • earthquake • disaster • rescue mission • Samoa • American Samoa

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Indonesia Issues Tsunami Warning After 6.8 Quake

Temblor struck off Papua New Guinea

South Pacific Avoids Tsunami After Big Earthquakes

Warning issued after off Vanuatu, canceled after only small wave materializes

Landslides Wipe Out 4 Indonesian Villages

Another 640 people feared dead in remote areas

Miracle Rescue Lifts Hopes for 3,000 Trapped in Quake

Hopes dim as new emergency teams arrive in Indonesia

Fresh Quake Rattles Tonga

6.3 shaker jolts islands as relief efforts continue

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?