INDONESIA. A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's main island of Java yesterday, killing more than 2,000 people, injuring thousands more and causing mass destruction.

Thousands of families fled their homes in panic after the 6.2 magnitude quake struck early in the morning, many running for higher ground amid false rumors of a tsunami like the one that devastated the country in December 2004.

Many could not escape in time and were buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings or struck by flying rocks and debris as the quake devastated towns and villages across the south of the island.
Hospitals in the densely populated ancient city of Yogyakarta, located in the shadow of the simmering Mount Merapi volcano, were overflowing with casualties. Hundreds lay injured outside awaiting medical attention.

An official at the social affairs ministry's disaster relief center told AFP at least 2,021 fatalities had been reported in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces.

Emergency rescue and medical crews rushed to the worst-hit areas as officials said the death toll may rise.

Aid agencies were sending tents and food to the area to help those left homeless, while an appeal for blood donors was launched.

The quake struck just before 6 a.m. local time around 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the city, rattling a region that had been on edge for weeks amid fears the lava-spewing Mount Merapi would erupt.

One of the worst hit areas was the Bantul district south of Yogyakarta which was flattened.

"There is only one house remaining standing here, that of the head of the hamlet, but even that is not safe anymore as the walls are cracked," said Ngadiyo, 63, crouching in front of the rubble of his house in central Bantul.

"I have never gone through an earthquake this strong during my entire life," said his elder brother, Jodi Riwono, 46, who was trapped unconscious under rubble before being rescued by a grandson.
"I thank God that I am allowed more time to live," he said.

Purkasih, an elderly women, pleaded with passers-by to help look for her older sister Duljiah, who was trapped in a collapsed kitchen.

"Elder sister, elder sister," Purkasih wept as a dozen young men, some with open wounds, dug at the rubble. Seven hours after the quake they pulled out her body.

"Even us, healthy men, could not see if we could run, because of the dust raised by the falling houses," said Bakit, 18, a high school student, the left side of his face badly bruised and swollen.

"I was thrown by the quake and could only crawl out as everything was falling around me," he said.
Heru Nugroho, spokesman for the state-run Sardjito hospital in Yogyakarta, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital Jakarta, told AFP 1,500 victims were being treated at the hospital, many of them in the hallways.

People of all ages with broken arms and legs and bruised faces lay out on tiled floors covered in blood waiting for attention. Bodies were covered with bedsheets.

The quake also forced the closure of Adisucipto airport in Yogyakarta, Detikcom news portal said. The airport was badly damaged, with the roof of an airport section collapsing and at least one person trapped, Metro TV reported.

Flights have been diverted to the nearby city of Solo.

Meteorologists said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, but both US and Hong Kong monitors registered it at 6.2. Seismologists said the quake would not increase the likelihood of an eruption at Merapi.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari and Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah to travel to Yogyakarta immediately to oversee rescue efforts.

"The president is deeply concerned," presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng told a press conference.

Malarangeng said that the president also ordered military chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto to send in troops to help evacuate victims.

Yudhoyono himself was to visit the region on Sunday, he said.

Yogyakarta province police chief Bambang Hari Sampurnojati told local radio that the earthquake was reportedly followed by tidal waves, striking panic in a nation that was the worst hit by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami.

"We panicked when we heard that there was a tsunami. We were ready to flee," Yogyakarta resident Clemon Cilik told the state Antara news agency.

More than 20,000 residents living near Mount Merapi, which has been spewing heat clouds and on top alert for a major eruption, are already staying in emergency shelters after being evacuated from the slopes.

Damage was hampering the rescue effort, Sampurnojati said, with electricity at the police headquarters in the city cut due to a blackout following the quake.

"Electricity is out and communication is difficult," he told ElShinta.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

An official at the meteorological office said the quake was not related to the volcano, which has been rumbling in recent weeks.