Aceh quake: ‘All my neighbours’ homes were completely flattened’

BANDA ACEH — After performing her ablutions for her morning prayers, Ms Murni Nasir was startled by crackling sounds in the ceiling and crushing cutlery.

After being in shock for about 10 seconds, the 24-year-old resident of Bireuen in Aceh, Indonesia, started to realise that the tremors were from an earthquake.

Her house is located about 80km from Pidie Jaya, the district worst hit by the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck northern Aceh yesterday morning, killing nearly 100 people and brought down hundreds of buildings.

“I immediately ran to wake up my sister and her baby, as well as my younger siblings. After we got everyone together, we started running out of the house,” she told Indonesian news portal Liputan6.com yesterday.

Outside, people were already gathering. She said some decided to run to higher ground, spooked by the Boxing Day earthquake 12 years ago that triggered a devastating tsunami which killed more than 100,000 people.

“We’re still traumatised (by the tsunami),” she said.

Pidie Jaya resident Ms Fitri Abidin fled with her husband and wailing children to a nearby hill after the quake jolted the family awake early yesterday.

They remained there for several hours until the authorities reassured them there was no tsunami risk.

“It terrified me. I was having difficulty breathing or walking,” said Ms Fitri who added that her husband had grabbed hold of her and carried her out of their house.

Ms Fitri was one of the luckier ones. The family’s house did not collapse, but homes of some neighbours did and she thinks three of her friends were buried in the collapsed buildings.

Ten-year-old Aliya, who, like most Indonesians goes by one name, managed to crawl out from a shophouse in Pidie Jaya that collapsed during the quake. She was immediately taken to a hospital.

“Her father, Ibrahim, is still trapped within the rubble,” the child’s relative Raudatul Jannah was quoted as saying by Serambi Indonesia.

The fate of her mother, Mariani, who was also in the family’s shop during the quake, was unknown.

In the hard-hit town of Meureudu, terrified residents rushed outside as their homes buckled and crumbled.

“Everything was destroyed,” said Mr Hasbi Jaya, who pulled his two children unconscious from the rubble of their home.

“It was pitch black because the electricity was out. I looked around and all my neighbours’ homes were completely flattened.” AGENCIES