Word: padang
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...early-warning system has been up and running since 2006. But getting timely and accurate information to imperiled communities is problematic. Time is of the essence: Aceh, for example, sits on the northern tip of the seismologically hyperactive island of Sumatra, where an earthquake in the western city of Padang killed more than 1,000 people in September. (See more about tsunamis...
...blighted by geography. But other disaster-prone nations like Japan manage to surmount these disadvantages. In some ways, natural disasters give these developed economies an excuse for technological improvement. So while Japan invests in high-tech skyscrapers designed to withstand the inevitable next earthquake, the West Sumatran capital of Padang - which scientists long predicted would be shaken by a killer quake because it sits astride one of the world's most active fault lines - was crowded with poorly built buildings that crumbled when the earth shuddered on Sept. 30. Similarly, in the Philippines, the vast flooding triggered by Ketsana...
...magnitude earthquake struck Padang, a city of 900,000 on the northwest island of Sumatra, cutting power and telephone lines and trapping thousands of people underneath collapsed buildings. The initial death toll of 75 is expected to rise as victims are pulled from the rubble. Aftershocks triggered landslides and were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore. Hours earlier, a quake in the Pacific had sent a tsunami crashing into Samoa and American Samoa, killing at least...
...days after the deadly quake struck Indonesia, the first wave of international rescue teams trickled into Padang, lending their expertise to the unfolding search effort. The first 72 hours after a disaster are critical because it's rare to find survivors after that point, and so Swiss Rescue, dressed in their signature orange jumpsuits, fanned out across town shortly after they landed. By the end of their first foray, the Swiss dogs had located five bodies at the STA Prayoga college and another corpse at the upscale Ambacang Hotel. No survivors were found. But Michele Mercier of Swiss Rescue says...
...Amused Padang residents watch as orange-jumpsuited foreigners gently pour water over the dogs in a makeshift tub, whispering endearments at the animals. Hornisbesger says that when she worked in Turkey, some people threw stones at the dogs because they are considered unclean and unwelcome beasts by some Muslims. (Islamic tradition does not generally embrace keeping dogs as pets.) But she has been impressed by how welcoming Indonesians, living in a Muslim majority nation, have been of the Swiss menagerie. "Everyone has been very friendly and tolerant," she says. "I think they realize that these dogs may be the ones...