The China Mail - 'Nowhere to run': Indonesian quake survivors plead for help

She was among dozens who fled to the hills from the coastal village of Marapokot in the hardest-hit Nagekeo district of Flores island.

A 7.7-magnitude quake struck north of the island in the early hours of Saturday, killing 68 people and injuring dozens.

Rescue officials have said there were no reports of people missing, and efforts were being made to get emergency supplies of food, water and medicine to some 13,000 displaced people.

Sulistiyah and her group are too scared to go back home, with more than 1,600 aftershocks having rumbled through the area, according to officials.

"Our houses are all cracked... We are worried about aftershocks, that we will be buried under the rubble," the 53-year-old mother of three told AFP.

She and her family took refuge in one of several large tents residents erected on higher ground, some using tarpaulin, plastic, rope and poles.

The tents provide some protection from the scorching sun, but the evacuees have no toilets and only limited access to water and electricity.

"Luckily, we all survived, but our homes cannot be saved," said Sulistiyah, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

- 'Traumatised' -

AFP reporters experienced at least two aftershocks while visiting the makeshift tent camp, and each tremor sent panic through the community.

Many Flores residents have traumatic memories of another 7.7-magnitude quake that hit the island in 1992, triggering a tsunami and killing about 2,500 people.

Resident Asia Yusuf, 52, said officials had urged the displaced to return home, though she added that people did not want to return given the continued shaking.

"Every day (since the quake), it's like this," she said as the ground rumbled once again.

Another evacuee from Marapokot, Muhamad Yasin, said the entire community was "traumatised".

"When it shakes even slightly, we panic," he told AFP.

"But there is nowhere to run, as we believe we are already at the highest point."

Asia and others are also becoming increasingly frustrated with a perceived lag in government response.

"Because (the water) is not enough, we only take shower once every two days," said Asia, also appealing for help with reconstruction.

"We hope things can go back to what they were, at least that our homes can be rebuilt," she said.

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, the government cancelled an Independence Day fireworks show planned for Monday, in solidarity with the victims.

President Prabowo Subianto in an address to mark the holiday urged Indonesians to pray for those affected by the quake.

J.Thompson--ThChM