Meulaboh
Encyclopedia
Meulaboh is the capital of West Aceh Regency, Indonesia
. Meulaboh is among the hardest hit areas by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
. Being just 150 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, Meulaboh was hit by tsunami
, leaving the estimated deaths of 40,000 people out of 120,000.
, the capital of Aceh
province. Meulaboh is located in westhern part Sumatra
island.
"The casualty rates in Meulaboh defy imagination," said Aitor Lacomba, Indonesian director of aid group International Rescue Committee
. "Tens of thousands need immediate assistance there."
A damaged airstrip has been cleared enabling International Red Cross medical teams from Japan
, Spain
and Singapore
to begin treating survivors.
"There is a strong smell of putrefaction and, whilst body retrieval has commenced, it can be assumed that there are still hundreds, possibly thousands of bodies remaining underneath the debris," said Red Cross engineer Sara Escudero.
The Red Cross said it would use Meulaboh as an aid staging post for the Sumatran west coast, as Singapore deployed a second helicopter landing ship there on Tuesday, with 200 men, food supplies and trucks.
The Environmental group Greenpeace
is sending its flagship, Rainbow Warrior
, to Meulaboh with aid and a team from Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders).
This is the 12th worst Natural Disaster ever recorded in history.
A urban legend was created around 2004-05 claiming that 400 Christians were not allowed to celebrate Christmas and went to a hill to celebrate. They were spared. This was proven false by Snopes.com.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Meulaboh is among the hardest hit areas by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
. Being just 150 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, Meulaboh was hit by tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
, leaving the estimated deaths of 40,000 people out of 120,000.
Geography
Meulaboh is about 245 km southeast of Banda AcehBanda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...
, the capital of Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
province. Meulaboh is located in westhern part Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
island.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake event
The Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia said that the final count might reach 400,000 dead (for all of Indonesia)."The casualty rates in Meulaboh defy imagination," said Aitor Lacomba, Indonesian director of aid group International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
. "Tens of thousands need immediate assistance there."
A damaged airstrip has been cleared enabling International Red Cross medical teams from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
to begin treating survivors.
"There is a strong smell of putrefaction and, whilst body retrieval has commenced, it can be assumed that there are still hundreds, possibly thousands of bodies remaining underneath the debris," said Red Cross engineer Sara Escudero.
The Red Cross said it would use Meulaboh as an aid staging post for the Sumatran west coast, as Singapore deployed a second helicopter landing ship there on Tuesday, with 200 men, food supplies and trucks.
The Environmental group Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
is sending its flagship, Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior (1989)
The Rainbow Warrior is a three-masted schooner in service with the environmental protection organization Greenpeace. She was built from the hull of the deep sea fishing ship Ross Kashmir , which had been built in Selby, North Yorkshire and launched in 1957...
, to Meulaboh with aid and a team from Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
(Doctors Without Borders).
This is the 12th worst Natural Disaster ever recorded in history.
A urban legend was created around 2004-05 claiming that 400 Christians were not allowed to celebrate Christmas and went to a hill to celebrate. They were spared. This was proven false by Snopes.com.