Life is Healthy

• Radioactive water leaks from Japan nuclear plant
• Thailand detects low-level radiation in vegetables from Japan

Akira Abe, the father of Jin Abe, smiling as he speaks at a news conference after his son was rescued from the rubble in Ishinomaki, Japan. An 80-year-old woman, Sumi Abe, and her 16-year-old grandson, Jin Abe, were rescued from their damaged home on Sunday, nine days after the northeast was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, NHK public TV said. (Reuters Photo)

• Workers Evacuated From Nuclear Plant
• World Bank: Japan Reconstruction May Take 5 Years
• Lessons to Learn From a Tsunami Early Warning System That Worked
• Rescuers Find Missing Indonesian Family in Quake Hit Japan
• Taiwan Finds Radiation on Imported Japanese Beans

• Indonesia to Begin Nuclear Radiation Testing in North Sulawesi
• Japan Radioactivity Released ‘Directly’ into Atmosphere: IAEA
• Air China Cuts Back Japan Flights amid Crisis
• Asia's Nuclear Drive on Despite Japan Crisis
• Radiation Fears Spark Panic Buying, Evacuations in Tokyo

Medical treatment of earthquake victims at outside Simeulue general hospital in Sinabang, Aceh Province, Wednesday, April 7. (ANTARA/Abdu Razak)

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Some 62 people in two areas in Simeulue district namely Gunung Putih and Teupah Selatan were injured due to an earthquake measuring 7,2 on the Richter scale which struck the area earlier in the day.

In Gunung Putih village, 21 people are hospitalized with four among them badly injured by falling electric poles.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Teupah Selatan subdistrict, Helmi, said 41 people were badly injured in the area due to the Wednesday earthquake. All the victims were rushed to a field hospital built after the quake to anticipate possible danger of the after shocks.

Vice Governor of Aceh province, Muhammad Nazar, said Simeulue district would be in darkness in some days ahead since around 30 electricity poles had collapsed.

Nazar said several heavy equipment would be sent to remove the fallen electric poles from the street.

Personnel from Simeulue administration office was still counting the number of victims in the affected areas, he added.

Students in Banda Aceh have been participating in exercises, to increase their ability to face earthquakes and tsunamis. (Antara Photo/Ampelsa)

Massive earthquakes over the past few years have increased the volatility of the tectonic plates beneath the archipelago, experts have warned. They have called for more quake-proof buildings to withstand the heightened threat.

“We are more at risk as the ground becomes more vulnerable and the effects of earthquakes are going to be more devastating,” Mulyo Haris Pradono of the Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation Unit at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) said on Friday.

He was referring to peak ground acceleration, a measure of earthquake acceleration on the ground and an important calculation for earthquake engineering.

Mulyo said the PGA in the southern part of Sumatra, Java, North Sulawesi and Papua was the highest in Indonesia.

The assessment is based on research conducted in 2002 and the data is expected to be updated in 2012.

Massive quakes last year that heighten the PGA included the 7.3-magnitude temblor in West Java on Sept. 2, the 7.6-magnitude quake that rocked West Sumatra on September 30 and the 7.2 tremor in West Papua in January.

According to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), there are 23 earthquake-prone provinces in the country, including Aceh, West Sumatra, West Java, East Java, Bali, West Papua and Papua.

Mulyo said that as increased ground movement was inevitable, the only solution was to build quake-proof buildings in vulnerable areas.

“We are still conducting in-depth research and are assisting West Sumatra to build safer buildings with help from Japan,” he said.

“The point is that now we have to be more aware and prepare for earthquakes.”

He said the primary challenge was the lack of public awareness and effective regulations governing safe construction as people continued to build unsafe structures because they were cheaper.

Fumihiko Imamura, from Japan’s Tohoku University, said the BPPT and Japan had surveyed collapsed buildings in Padang.

“We concluded that many mistakes occurred in the structural planning of the buildings and homes,” Imamura said.

“In order to fix this we need not only a scientific approach but also a social and cultural approach to convince people that they need to live in a safer place to reduce the hazard.”

The two countries last year established a four-year research program called Multidisciplinary Hazard Reduction from Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Indonesia, in an effort to minimize the impact of disasters.

Fourteen institutions from both nations are involved in the joint research.

Antara News, Monday, February 1, 2010 13:38 WIB

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Students from various colleges in Central Aceh regency had collected funds and registered themselves as volunteers to help Central Aceh quake victims.

"We have directly visited Ketol subdistrict which had been worst-hit by the quake on Thursday (Jan 28)," one of the students said here Monday.

Besides going down to the quake-ravaged areas, the students also set up relief posts along important streets of Takengon, capital of Central Aceh.

The students also went to market places to collect funds for the quake victims.

Antara News, Monday, January 25, 2010 13:28 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - US Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron R. Hume has praised the Indonesian government for sending aid to earthquake-devastated Haiti.

"Yet this week Indonesia is making generous contributions to the people of Haiti in their greatest need. Indonesia`s extended hand is not a mere gesture. It is a significant act of leadership," Ambassador Cameron said in his statement published on the official website of the US embassy in Jakarta, Monday.

The aid for Haiti, in many ways, was similar to Indonesia`s pledge to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a pledge that triggered positive promises from other governments, he said.

"Indonesia is playing a key role in creating a world community ready to respond to the challenges of the 21st century," he said.

Fate and geography make Indonesia uniquely vulnerable to natural disasters. The Aceh tsunami of five years ago made an indelible impression on the entire world, but other events as recent as last year`s earthquakes in western Java and Padang reminded the people of Indonesia`s vulnerability, Hume said.

"First, why is Haiti important? Despite its favorable location in the Caribbean, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world," Hume said.

Its people suffer from disease, malnutrition, wretched public services, and lack of economic opportunity. But they also have a proud history of being the second country to fight for and win their independence from colonialism, and they have a rich artistic culture. But for the past century development has passed Haiti by. There must be a way to turn around that decline, according to the US ambassador.

"Second, what does Indonesia have to offer? Quite a lot that is in greatest need, especially skill and experience: 30 doctors with a field hospital and medicine, 25 communication workers, 10 electricians, plus supplies and food. Indonesia knows how to respond to a natural disaster, and it knows that human solidarity counts. Anyone who has watched the extensive television reports from Haiti would know that Indonesia will be helping to meet Haiti`s most urgent needs," he stated.

"Third, why can`t others meet these needs? My own country, like others, has been quick to dispatch rescue workers, medical teams, and supplies - but we know that acting alone cannot be adequate. Isn`t it likely that the resourceful Indonesian who brought emergency cell phone service back to Padang might have just the skills most needed?," he said

The US ambassador said that Haiti lacked basic infrastructure even before the earthquake.

The roads, port, electricity grid, water and sanitation service, and communications are broken or destroyed by the earthquake.

"Little wonder that delivering assistance the last meter to a victim is so hard," he said.

The United Nations, including its Brazilian-led peace-keeping force, is at the center of international efforts to help Haiti. The organization has its own reasons to grieve the loss of so many able and dedicated staff.

Hedi Annabi, the Secretary-General`s special representative, died in the rubble of the UN headquarters last week.

"He was a remarkable man -- calm in crises, straightforward in discussions, dedicated to doing the good he could, able to appreciate irony, but never cynical. Others now need to step forward," Hume said.

According to the envoy, Indonesians should be proud of their government`s actions to help Haiti.

"Although Haiti is a small, poor country on the other side of the world, our future depends on leadership that brings together global responses to what might appear as local needs. Indonesia is playing its part to provide that kind of leadership, both on the ground in Haiti and at the conference tables of the climate change talks, the G-20, and elsewhere. Indonesia`s leadership makes it an important partner for the United States," he said.

`Men anpil, chay pa lou` is a Haitian proverb which means, with many hands, the burden is light. "Indonesia is lending an impressive hand to the Haitian relief effort," he added.