Indonesia death toll reaches 300 with more feared after twin disasters

Mother nature has not been kind to Indonesia recently. After two, not one, natural disasters, tsunami and earthquake, Indonesia have lost more than lives. The fear and anxiety in the nation rises as the emergency response is at the limit now.

Rescuers discovered 282 bodies in the remote Mentawai islands, which were inundated with a 3 metres (10ft) wave when the Pacific "ring of fire" fault line ruptured on Monday night causing a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. World Vision, an aid agency, estimated more than 500 people remain unaccounted for and 7,000 households have been affected.
Around 800 miles away on the island of Java, rescuers scouring Mount Merapi, which erupted on Tuesday, said they had so far discovered 30 bodies, including an 83-year-old man called Maridjan who watched over the volcano's spirits.
As the weather cleared over the Mentawai island chain the true scale of the devastation caused by Monday night's tsunami became apparent. The tectonic fault that caused the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 which killed more than 200,000 people had ruptured again, triggering a giant wave that devastated parts of the island chain and killed hundreds.
The break in the poor conditions that had prevented the remote islands being reached by boat allowed the first cargo plane loaded with tents, medicine, food and clothes to land, but it also bought grim news of the human cost.
The National Disaster Management Agency said most of the deaths occurred in Pagai Utara and Pagai Selatan districts. Officials said hundreds of wooden and bamboo homes were washed away in more than 20 villages, displacing more than 20,000 people. Many were seeking shelter in makeshift emergency camps or with family and friends.
Eight Australians, an American and a New Zealander arrived in the Sumatran city of Padang and told of the moment the wave struck their anchored boat.

As I posted an article about Haiti's cholera pandemic, it is depressing and fearful how two major natural disaster happened so quickly one after the other. Mother nature is something you can not tame, and all we can do as human beings is to clean up the mess after. This reminds me of the 2004 tsunami that killed numerous people. I hope Indonesia recovers soon, it is a beautiful country with no doubt. It seems like angry mother nature loves to visit poor or third world countries. I am now wondering what Indonesia could have done in order to lower the rate of death.