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Live From...
Earthquake Strikes off West Coast of Indonesia
Aired March 28, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome back to CNN's LIVE FROM, as we continue our coverage of this massive aftershock of that December 27th earthquake in the region around Banda Aceh and Sumatra. This aftershock of that particular earthquake raising all kinds of concerns about the possibility of a tsunami.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. And at this point, though, no tsunami has been reported, as far as we know. But we are getting word there was one that may have been spotted.
What you're looking at right now is pictures coming from the evacuations that are in effect along Indonesia, the coast of Indonesia. Thailand has ordered an evacuation of six of its provinces. Sri Lanka has also ordered evacuations. Of course, as you can see, there are people trying to get out of the area, and a lot of folks obviously really not knowing exactly where to go, what the plan is.
O'BRIEN: And in the absence of not knowing what to do, heading for high ground is the safe course of action, the prudent course of action given all the suffering and pain and hardship they have endured over the recent weeks.
CNN's Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. She's been in touch with some of the authorities who watch this sort of seismic activity. And perhaps more important and more germane to what we're seeing right now, the possibility of tsunamis.
Jacqui, what are you hearing?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We have the first word in that an actual tsunami was recorded. And this was from a tide gauge, so it actually hasn't been spotted. But the gauge showing indications that a small tsunami was observed at the Cocos tide gauge.
And unfortunately I wish I had the time to get a map for you. But we want to get this information on the air critically.
It's to the south and west of Sumatra. In fact, if you draw a triangle where Sumatra is, and then down towards Australia, and if you kind of draw an isosceles triangle, that's where the islands are. So I imagine it's several hundred miles away from where the epicenter was, which was actually right up here. And this is where the December 26 one was.
So this is information coming in from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. They're saying, again, a small tsunami was observed in the Cocos tide gauge. And that's all we've got for you now. As I get more information, I'll bring it to you -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: A couple of quick questions for you, Jacqui. First of all, there's kind of -- there's not too many of these tidal gauges as far as I know in the Indian Ocean.
JERAS: No, right.
O'BRIEN: Is this a tidal gauge in the Pacific that they're seeing information on, or is right there in that spot?
JERAS: This is from an Australia weather bureau is what my understanding is.
O'BRIEN: OK. All right. And finally, when you say a small tsunami, what does that mean? Is that...
JERAS: I really don't know. That's all the information that I have. Sorry.
O'BRIEN: OK, great. Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Of course, that just shows you that the information is still coming in to us.
We want to talk to someone who is a little bit closer to where the earthquake struck. We have John Aglionby, who is with the newspaper "The Guardian." He is in Banda Aceh, joining us by phone.
Are you still with us? John, are you with us?
OK. Obviously we're having some difficulty trying to get him on the phone. He is in Banda Aceh, an area close to where the epicenter of this earthquake struck today around 11:00 Eastern Time.
It was an 8.2 magnitude quake, although some experts are calling it an 8.5. Regardless, experts say be careful out there because there is the possibility -- and they do presume that tsunamis will occur because of this earthquake. But at this point we don't have any verification of any striking at this point. Although Jacqui Jeras did say moments ago that there was maybe a sighting of a small tsunami.
O'BRIEN: And that does jive with experts' opinions that we heard earlier indicating that this particular tsunami, if it exists -- and we have those early indications of a small tsunami -- might have propagated to the south of the epicenter of this, which, if you look on a map, that's the direction you'd want it to go. That's out of harm's way.
As you look at some new video coming in, I'm not sure what part of the world this, whether it's Thailand or this is from the island of Sumatra. But these are showing -- that's Banda Aceh, showing evacuations there.
With us on the phone now -- of course, you can imagine that there are numerous, numerous nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, as we call them, aid groups still on the ground all throughout this region trying to continue their efforts to get people back on their feet. This is a process that is going to take many, many years.
We haven't been reporting on it as much lately, but their work continues. Among the groups involved heavily in this is Mercy Corps. Craig Redmond joins us on the line now.
Craig, what can you tell us? First of all, you're in Jakarta, correct?
CRAIG REDMOND, MERCY CORPS: That's correct. I'm in Jakarta.
O'BRIEN: All right. So you have no firsthand knowledge of this. You're a couple of thousand miles away from the epicenter. What have you heard from your folks and people who are on the ground there a little closer to the action?
REDMOND: Well, we have team members in Banda Aceh and further south in Malabou, and even below that, further south outside of Aceh in an area called -- in a city called Padong. And I've been hearing from those team members there that there was a lot of panic and folks hit the streets and got into vehicles, or however they could, and got to high ground as quickly as possible. Apparently, what I'm hearing now from them is that folks are starting to return back home, apparently no longer fearing the tsunami.
O'BRIEN: Well, and certainly, if a tsunami would have hit Banda Aceh, as you look -- you can put up that graphic that's in pre-set there, and we can show folks. That is not to scale, but what that does show is that the epicenter very close to Banda Aceh, and it would be felt almost immediately. So the fact that a tsunami has not been felt there yet, I think we can probably presume it's not going to happen this go-round, right?
REDMOND: Yes. I think it's fair to say that's probably true, although morning will tell us a lot more about the effects of the earthquake itself. And our teams are getting ready for assessments and those kinds of things to see what needs to be done for the earthquake.
O'BRIEN: Well, and that is something we haven't been focusing much about. It is still a very powerful earthquake that we're talking about in an area that has already had many structures destroyed, leveled, washed away, or, in some cases, weakened. So there could be a potential here for another layer of damage, if you will.
REDMOND: That's certainly true. And the thing that we worry about also are folks are just starting to rebuild their livelihoods and ways of taking care of the families. And if those things were now once again taken or threatened, of course there's a whole other layer of concern there.
O'BRIEN: Well, and this has got to do something -- I mean, this is, of course, not the first of the aftershocks, but this is certainly the most memorable one, the largest of magnitude by far. Just people's general psyche, they have to be battered and down. And to have this happen again has got to be devastating. REDMOND: I think you're right. It is devastating. Although, to tell you the truth, I just returned from Aceh. And the way people are bouncing back and picking up their lives is like nothing I've ever seen. It's truly impressive.
O'BRIEN: Really? Tell me a little more.
REDMOND: Well, it's just how quickly some people have -- some of them have returned to the original sites where their house once stood, and now there's not even a foundation left. And you see huts, wooden huts built out of scraps that they found, those kinds of things.
They've quickly gotten their kids back into schools, some of them even going back to their businesses and getting back to the business of life. It's impressive.
O'BRIEN: The human spirit is I amazing, isn't it, Craig?
REDMOND: It's incredible.
O'BRIEN: Craig Redmond is with Mercy Corps, joining us from Jakarta. Thank you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: We want to talk now to Dugal Paschen who is with Save the Children. In fact, he is on a boat off of Indonesia and joins us by phone to talk to us about what he has seen.
What have you seen so far? Have you felt this earthquake?
DUGAL PASCHEN, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Yes, we definitely felt it. And we were (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I was sleeping at the time. And I must have missed the first two minutes of it. But when I woke up, I could definitely feel it. It was swinging back and forth...
NGUYEN: Are you there with us still? Dugal Paschen?
Obviously...
PASCHEN: Hello?
NGUYEN: Yes. Can you hear us?
PASCHEN: Hello?
NGUYEN: This is Betty Nguyen in Atlanta. Can you hear us, Dugal Paschen?
PASCHEN: Yes, I can hear you. It's raining and I'm talking on a cell (ph) phone, so we might break up once in a while.
NGUYEN: OK. Well, let's try to get as much information as we possibly can while we have you on the line with us.
PASCHEN: OK.
NGUYEN: So you felt the earthquake. How close are you to where this earthquake happened?
PASCHEN: Well, as far as we know, the earthquake was between (UNINTELLIGIBLE) radio, which is about 80 kilometers. And the earthquake lasted for about two to three minutes, as I've been told by the people on the boat, since I was sleeping.
We went to the middle of the bay. The tide receded, which -- it receded very quickly. And we managed to get the anchor up. The sea is calm. And it was really over two hours ago, so we're not expecting any tsunamis.
NGUYEN: Yes. You say the tide receded very quickly. That's kind of indicative of what was seen when that first tsunami struck back in December.
The tides receded, you saw lots of the ocean floor. And then all of a sudden, the tsunami came back and struck, killing hundreds of thousands.
So at this point, though, you say that when you saw it recede, you weren't fearful that a tsunami was going to be happening or occurring shortly after that?
PASCHEN: I think that we managed to stay in control. And the tide did not recede enough that we could see the reef. We were in a channel at the time and getting pulled out.
And we managed to get the anchor off and the machines going and got into the bay. And this is about an hour ago. So I can definitely assure you we were all definitely fearful at the time. But we're all in good spirits and just waiting for daylight, and then going back to find out what's happen there.
NGUYEN: All right. Dugal Paschen with Save the Children on a boat off of Indonesia. Obviously that line has been very difficult for us to hear him. We are obviously going to be speaking with many more people today as we cover this 8.2 magnitude earthquake that has struck off the western coast of Indonesia -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Reuters News Service is just reporting on a bulletin that the Indonesia island of Nias -- it's about 125 kilometers west-southwest of Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra, there are reports there that earthquake, which would have been very close to that location, as you can see by this map here, that dozens have been killed there.
Hundreds of homes destroyed in Nias Island. "I can guarantee that dozens have died," said the deputy mayor of one of the cities there. This is coming from the Reuters News Service. We don't have anybody on the ground on Nias Island to independently verify that. But we submit that to you as this story unfolds.
Now, meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat is already assessing the situation on the ground all throughout Indonesia. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joining us now from her post with a little sense of the fact-finding effort that is under way right now -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Miles, and just a short time ago, the State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli, sounding more like a general than a diplomat, said that the U.S. was quite literally putting itself in "battle mode," to quote him, so that they can figure out how to respond if and when that becomes necessary. Ereli said here at the State Department already senior U.S. officials from East Asia, where Indonesia is located, from South Asia and also from Africa have been meeting, having various chats on the phone to try to figure out how they can get themselves in the best state of readiness.
They're talking to their embassies in the region. In point of fact, they also contacted, as you just mentioned, the U.S. consul general in Medan, northern Sumatra, which is the closest area to where the earthquake struck. And he had gotten in his car and was driving around to try to assess damages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT: We have been in touch with our consul general in Medan, the area closest to the earthquake. He reported that the earthquake was felt but has not seen any significant damage at this time.
We have also reached out to NGOs and aid workers in the area, again, in an effort to gather information and to be in a position to act should our assistance be necessary. I think what we've learned from -- we're applying what we've learned from the previous earthquake so that we can be prepared to be responsive quickly and in a meaningful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Already, President Bush has tried to respond in a meaningful and tangible way to the tsunami that struck in December of last year. He asked Congress just last month for a supplemental of over $700 million to help the tsunami-effected region with aid and reconstruction. He's also, Miles, asking Congress for over $15 million to try to get a hurricane and earthquake early warning system in place, which would have been so needed in December -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Andrea, clearly the administration learned a lesson from the December 26th event, when people all around the world viewed the administration as moving slowly in response.
KOPPEL: Well, I think that everyone -- and so often, when there are these natural disasters, I think that there is sort of a time warp that seems to take place because information, especially when it's in far-reaching areas that don't have tremendous communication abilities, as was the case in Aceh Province in Indonesia, and as is the case in north Sumatra, that so often it takes so much longer to try to get the information to assess what the needs are.
So I think it was a valid criticism. But you also have to put it in context of where the natural disaster is that the U.S. is responding to.
O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Thank you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: As we try to assess the damage caused by this earthquake, we want to go now to someone who is very near the epicenter in Banda Aceh. We have John Aglionby with "The Guardian" newspaper on the phone.
Tell us what you've seen so far. What's the situation where you are right now?
JOHN AGLIONBY, "THE GUARDIAN": Everything has returned to normal. It's now about three hours after the earthquake struck, just after 11:00 in the evening.
The electricity has come back on. People have returned back inside. They're trying to get back to sleep. But few people actually can sleep because they're too traumatized by what they've just experienced following the tremendous tragedy three months ago.
NGUYEN: So there is no fear a tsunami will strike that area? Everyone has returned back to normal?
AGLIONBY: Everyone in the neighborhood that I'm in, which is an area that did experience some flooding in the December 26th disaster, appears to be normal. Some people who have fled in their cars have now returned.
There are one or two cars missing that I can see. But, yes, for the most part, it does appear to have returned to normal after quite considerable panic in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about that quake. You were there in Banda Aceh when it happened. Tell me what you experienced.
AGLIONBY: I had just fallen asleep after a long day's work, and I was aroused from my bed. I initially thought, oh, it was just another little aftershock. But then the swaying turned to violent shaking.
I tried to get out of bed after I heard people screaming and shouting outside. But the force of the quake was so strong I couldn't really get to the door. My knees buckled a bit, eventually managed to get outside. And it was difficult to get downstairs.
When I got outside everyone was sort of shaking and concerned, moving their vehicles out of the buildings, fearing that a collapse might happen. But then, after a few minutes, the shaking stopped and then people realized that the buildings were not falling apart, not collapsing. And so they figured, OK, let's wait, let's try and stay calm.
This telegraph was working pretty well. Telephones were going nonstop. So there weren't any reports of any tsunami coming in. The people decided, even though they were in the dark quite literally because there was no power, they decided to wait it out for the most part.
In other areas, there was much more panic. Local TV is reporting that dozens of people have died on an island called Nias off the west coast of Sumatra. This hasn't yet been confirmed.
But perhaps Banda Aceh got off fairly lightly compared to other areas, certainly where I was. There were many panicked people, but then they decided, hang on, let's wait, let's stay calm. And after about 45 minutes, the power came back on and people went back inside.
NGUYEN: You mentioned Nias. We are getting some reports from Reuters that possibly dozens are dead in that area. Are you getting this information from what you're seeing on television? Is that how you know what's happening in the other areas near you?
AGLIONBY: Yes, it is, although there aren't any further reports to corroborate it at the moment. So -- and it's hard to get a telephone linked to me. Obviously it's quite apparent that they have suffered damage, and so we can't get through to them.
And the system's overloaded. But I think in the next few hours the true picture will emerge. As with the December the 26th disaster, it took hours, if not days, before people were fully aware of what had happened. So I think it would be hasty to jump to conclusions, but certainly the news doesn't appear great from there.
NGUYEN: John Aglionby, with "The Guardian" newspaper, who is in Banda Aceh, where he says everything appears to be back to normal right now. That quake hit about three hours ago. It was an 8.2 magnitude, a very large earthquake. But according to John Aglionby, with "The Guardian" newspaper, in Banda Aceh, everything is back to normal there -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Our coverage continues. We're going to take a brief break for a few words from our sponsors. We have more news ahead for you as well.
LIVE FROM continues. Stay with us.
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O'BRIEN: This is fairly recent video coming in to us. This is around Banda Aceh.
A lot of people obviously very scared, and doing the prudent thing, getting out of town, heading for high ground in the wake of what is now, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, being considered an 8.7 -- 8.7 magnitude earthquake, not far from the site of that December 26th earthquake, which, of course, caused that killer tsunami that went all throughout the Indian Ocean rim.
Thus far, we have had reports of a small tsunami, whatever that means -- we really didn't get a handle. What is a small tsunami? I don't know what that is -- south and southwest of Banda Aceh and Sumatra. And that's where we're going to take you now, to the Cocos Islands. Dieter Gerhard on the line with us now. He is on the ground there.
Dieter, can you hear me?
DIETER GERHARD, COCOS ISLANDS, INDONESIA: Yes, I can. Good morning. Well, good morning from Cocos. It's a bit after 1:30 in the morning here.
O'BRIEN: All right. Tell me what you saw and what you heard in the wake of this earthquake, Dieter.
GERHARD: The telephone ringing, BBC and CNN calling to say, "What happened? " We were all fast asleep and still would be.
O'BRIEN: All right. After you were awakened, was there some concern there about the possibility of a tsunami coming through? Did that occur to people?
GERHARD: Well, we're only just becoming aware of, you know, a second earthquake from Banda Aceh, from -- basically from the press calling us. Being in the middle of the night here, we can't see what the ocean's up to.
But as with the last occurrence, we certainly hope we are safe. There's very deep water all around the Cocos Islands. It means that there's no continental shelf, you know, for the tsunami wave to stand up and become dangerous.
O'BRIEN: Well, and that is an important point to point out to people, is that there is kind of a funneling effect that occurs, making tsunamis a real particular difficult problem, where the water gets suddenly shallow and narrows. Dieter, so no one has told you to evacuate. If there were an evacuation order, where would people go in the Cocos Islands?
GERHARD: Well, we do have a cyclone shelter, you know, for tropical storms. However, you know, my house, where I'm talking to you from at the moment, is only three meters above sea level. And that's really the whole of the island.
So we can certainly evacuate to a cyclone shelter, which would, you know, hopefully protect us from rising water. But -- and any debris in the water, but not necessarily from the height of the water because that building is at ground level.
O'BRIEN: All right. And how far away are you, as the crow flies, to Banda Aceh, from there? Do you know?
GERHARD: No, I don't. But I do know that on the last occurrence, it was only two hours after the earthquake that the waves, you know, arrived at Cocos and continued to arrive pretty much all day. So if the quake was, you know, three hours ago, and there was a wave traveling at the same speed, well then I would assume that it had already been and passed. O'BRIEN: So, it was two hours after the December 26th event. And we're now well into three hours since this particular event. Are people there, you, yourself, included, breathing a little easier now that that two hour time frame has passed?
GERHARD: Right. If the phone hadn't rung, I would have been unaware. You know?
We're -- it's, you know, early hours of the morning here, and we wouldn't have -- we wouldn't have known. So my next call is -- you know, after yours is probably to the local police officer to see if he has any advice for the local citizens or whether he's even been made aware, you know, of the event.
O'BRIEN: Dieter Gerhard on the Cocos Islands. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it. We hope everybody is safe and sound there.
Back with more in a moment.
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Aired March 28, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome back to CNN's LIVE FROM, as we continue our coverage of this massive aftershock of that December 27th earthquake in the region around Banda Aceh and Sumatra. This aftershock of that particular earthquake raising all kinds of concerns about the possibility of a tsunami.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. And at this point, though, no tsunami has been reported, as far as we know. But we are getting word there was one that may have been spotted.
What you're looking at right now is pictures coming from the evacuations that are in effect along Indonesia, the coast of Indonesia. Thailand has ordered an evacuation of six of its provinces. Sri Lanka has also ordered evacuations. Of course, as you can see, there are people trying to get out of the area, and a lot of folks obviously really not knowing exactly where to go, what the plan is.
O'BRIEN: And in the absence of not knowing what to do, heading for high ground is the safe course of action, the prudent course of action given all the suffering and pain and hardship they have endured over the recent weeks.
CNN's Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. She's been in touch with some of the authorities who watch this sort of seismic activity. And perhaps more important and more germane to what we're seeing right now, the possibility of tsunamis.
Jacqui, what are you hearing?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We have the first word in that an actual tsunami was recorded. And this was from a tide gauge, so it actually hasn't been spotted. But the gauge showing indications that a small tsunami was observed at the Cocos tide gauge.
And unfortunately I wish I had the time to get a map for you. But we want to get this information on the air critically.
It's to the south and west of Sumatra. In fact, if you draw a triangle where Sumatra is, and then down towards Australia, and if you kind of draw an isosceles triangle, that's where the islands are. So I imagine it's several hundred miles away from where the epicenter was, which was actually right up here. And this is where the December 26 one was.
So this is information coming in from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. They're saying, again, a small tsunami was observed in the Cocos tide gauge. And that's all we've got for you now. As I get more information, I'll bring it to you -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: A couple of quick questions for you, Jacqui. First of all, there's kind of -- there's not too many of these tidal gauges as far as I know in the Indian Ocean.
JERAS: No, right.
O'BRIEN: Is this a tidal gauge in the Pacific that they're seeing information on, or is right there in that spot?
JERAS: This is from an Australia weather bureau is what my understanding is.
O'BRIEN: OK. All right. And finally, when you say a small tsunami, what does that mean? Is that...
JERAS: I really don't know. That's all the information that I have. Sorry.
O'BRIEN: OK, great. Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Of course, that just shows you that the information is still coming in to us.
We want to talk to someone who is a little bit closer to where the earthquake struck. We have John Aglionby, who is with the newspaper "The Guardian." He is in Banda Aceh, joining us by phone.
Are you still with us? John, are you with us?
OK. Obviously we're having some difficulty trying to get him on the phone. He is in Banda Aceh, an area close to where the epicenter of this earthquake struck today around 11:00 Eastern Time.
It was an 8.2 magnitude quake, although some experts are calling it an 8.5. Regardless, experts say be careful out there because there is the possibility -- and they do presume that tsunamis will occur because of this earthquake. But at this point we don't have any verification of any striking at this point. Although Jacqui Jeras did say moments ago that there was maybe a sighting of a small tsunami.
O'BRIEN: And that does jive with experts' opinions that we heard earlier indicating that this particular tsunami, if it exists -- and we have those early indications of a small tsunami -- might have propagated to the south of the epicenter of this, which, if you look on a map, that's the direction you'd want it to go. That's out of harm's way.
As you look at some new video coming in, I'm not sure what part of the world this, whether it's Thailand or this is from the island of Sumatra. But these are showing -- that's Banda Aceh, showing evacuations there.
With us on the phone now -- of course, you can imagine that there are numerous, numerous nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, as we call them, aid groups still on the ground all throughout this region trying to continue their efforts to get people back on their feet. This is a process that is going to take many, many years.
We haven't been reporting on it as much lately, but their work continues. Among the groups involved heavily in this is Mercy Corps. Craig Redmond joins us on the line now.
Craig, what can you tell us? First of all, you're in Jakarta, correct?
CRAIG REDMOND, MERCY CORPS: That's correct. I'm in Jakarta.
O'BRIEN: All right. So you have no firsthand knowledge of this. You're a couple of thousand miles away from the epicenter. What have you heard from your folks and people who are on the ground there a little closer to the action?
REDMOND: Well, we have team members in Banda Aceh and further south in Malabou, and even below that, further south outside of Aceh in an area called -- in a city called Padong. And I've been hearing from those team members there that there was a lot of panic and folks hit the streets and got into vehicles, or however they could, and got to high ground as quickly as possible. Apparently, what I'm hearing now from them is that folks are starting to return back home, apparently no longer fearing the tsunami.
O'BRIEN: Well, and certainly, if a tsunami would have hit Banda Aceh, as you look -- you can put up that graphic that's in pre-set there, and we can show folks. That is not to scale, but what that does show is that the epicenter very close to Banda Aceh, and it would be felt almost immediately. So the fact that a tsunami has not been felt there yet, I think we can probably presume it's not going to happen this go-round, right?
REDMOND: Yes. I think it's fair to say that's probably true, although morning will tell us a lot more about the effects of the earthquake itself. And our teams are getting ready for assessments and those kinds of things to see what needs to be done for the earthquake.
O'BRIEN: Well, and that is something we haven't been focusing much about. It is still a very powerful earthquake that we're talking about in an area that has already had many structures destroyed, leveled, washed away, or, in some cases, weakened. So there could be a potential here for another layer of damage, if you will.
REDMOND: That's certainly true. And the thing that we worry about also are folks are just starting to rebuild their livelihoods and ways of taking care of the families. And if those things were now once again taken or threatened, of course there's a whole other layer of concern there.
O'BRIEN: Well, and this has got to do something -- I mean, this is, of course, not the first of the aftershocks, but this is certainly the most memorable one, the largest of magnitude by far. Just people's general psyche, they have to be battered and down. And to have this happen again has got to be devastating. REDMOND: I think you're right. It is devastating. Although, to tell you the truth, I just returned from Aceh. And the way people are bouncing back and picking up their lives is like nothing I've ever seen. It's truly impressive.
O'BRIEN: Really? Tell me a little more.
REDMOND: Well, it's just how quickly some people have -- some of them have returned to the original sites where their house once stood, and now there's not even a foundation left. And you see huts, wooden huts built out of scraps that they found, those kinds of things.
They've quickly gotten their kids back into schools, some of them even going back to their businesses and getting back to the business of life. It's impressive.
O'BRIEN: The human spirit is I amazing, isn't it, Craig?
REDMOND: It's incredible.
O'BRIEN: Craig Redmond is with Mercy Corps, joining us from Jakarta. Thank you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: We want to talk now to Dugal Paschen who is with Save the Children. In fact, he is on a boat off of Indonesia and joins us by phone to talk to us about what he has seen.
What have you seen so far? Have you felt this earthquake?
DUGAL PASCHEN, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Yes, we definitely felt it. And we were (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I was sleeping at the time. And I must have missed the first two minutes of it. But when I woke up, I could definitely feel it. It was swinging back and forth...
NGUYEN: Are you there with us still? Dugal Paschen?
Obviously...
PASCHEN: Hello?
NGUYEN: Yes. Can you hear us?
PASCHEN: Hello?
NGUYEN: This is Betty Nguyen in Atlanta. Can you hear us, Dugal Paschen?
PASCHEN: Yes, I can hear you. It's raining and I'm talking on a cell (ph) phone, so we might break up once in a while.
NGUYEN: OK. Well, let's try to get as much information as we possibly can while we have you on the line with us.
PASCHEN: OK.
NGUYEN: So you felt the earthquake. How close are you to where this earthquake happened?
PASCHEN: Well, as far as we know, the earthquake was between (UNINTELLIGIBLE) radio, which is about 80 kilometers. And the earthquake lasted for about two to three minutes, as I've been told by the people on the boat, since I was sleeping.
We went to the middle of the bay. The tide receded, which -- it receded very quickly. And we managed to get the anchor up. The sea is calm. And it was really over two hours ago, so we're not expecting any tsunamis.
NGUYEN: Yes. You say the tide receded very quickly. That's kind of indicative of what was seen when that first tsunami struck back in December.
The tides receded, you saw lots of the ocean floor. And then all of a sudden, the tsunami came back and struck, killing hundreds of thousands.
So at this point, though, you say that when you saw it recede, you weren't fearful that a tsunami was going to be happening or occurring shortly after that?
PASCHEN: I think that we managed to stay in control. And the tide did not recede enough that we could see the reef. We were in a channel at the time and getting pulled out.
And we managed to get the anchor off and the machines going and got into the bay. And this is about an hour ago. So I can definitely assure you we were all definitely fearful at the time. But we're all in good spirits and just waiting for daylight, and then going back to find out what's happen there.
NGUYEN: All right. Dugal Paschen with Save the Children on a boat off of Indonesia. Obviously that line has been very difficult for us to hear him. We are obviously going to be speaking with many more people today as we cover this 8.2 magnitude earthquake that has struck off the western coast of Indonesia -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Reuters News Service is just reporting on a bulletin that the Indonesia island of Nias -- it's about 125 kilometers west-southwest of Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra, there are reports there that earthquake, which would have been very close to that location, as you can see by this map here, that dozens have been killed there.
Hundreds of homes destroyed in Nias Island. "I can guarantee that dozens have died," said the deputy mayor of one of the cities there. This is coming from the Reuters News Service. We don't have anybody on the ground on Nias Island to independently verify that. But we submit that to you as this story unfolds.
Now, meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat is already assessing the situation on the ground all throughout Indonesia. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joining us now from her post with a little sense of the fact-finding effort that is under way right now -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Miles, and just a short time ago, the State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli, sounding more like a general than a diplomat, said that the U.S. was quite literally putting itself in "battle mode," to quote him, so that they can figure out how to respond if and when that becomes necessary. Ereli said here at the State Department already senior U.S. officials from East Asia, where Indonesia is located, from South Asia and also from Africa have been meeting, having various chats on the phone to try to figure out how they can get themselves in the best state of readiness.
They're talking to their embassies in the region. In point of fact, they also contacted, as you just mentioned, the U.S. consul general in Medan, northern Sumatra, which is the closest area to where the earthquake struck. And he had gotten in his car and was driving around to try to assess damages.
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ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT: We have been in touch with our consul general in Medan, the area closest to the earthquake. He reported that the earthquake was felt but has not seen any significant damage at this time.
We have also reached out to NGOs and aid workers in the area, again, in an effort to gather information and to be in a position to act should our assistance be necessary. I think what we've learned from -- we're applying what we've learned from the previous earthquake so that we can be prepared to be responsive quickly and in a meaningful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Already, President Bush has tried to respond in a meaningful and tangible way to the tsunami that struck in December of last year. He asked Congress just last month for a supplemental of over $700 million to help the tsunami-effected region with aid and reconstruction. He's also, Miles, asking Congress for over $15 million to try to get a hurricane and earthquake early warning system in place, which would have been so needed in December -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Andrea, clearly the administration learned a lesson from the December 26th event, when people all around the world viewed the administration as moving slowly in response.
KOPPEL: Well, I think that everyone -- and so often, when there are these natural disasters, I think that there is sort of a time warp that seems to take place because information, especially when it's in far-reaching areas that don't have tremendous communication abilities, as was the case in Aceh Province in Indonesia, and as is the case in north Sumatra, that so often it takes so much longer to try to get the information to assess what the needs are.
So I think it was a valid criticism. But you also have to put it in context of where the natural disaster is that the U.S. is responding to.
O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Thank you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: As we try to assess the damage caused by this earthquake, we want to go now to someone who is very near the epicenter in Banda Aceh. We have John Aglionby with "The Guardian" newspaper on the phone.
Tell us what you've seen so far. What's the situation where you are right now?
JOHN AGLIONBY, "THE GUARDIAN": Everything has returned to normal. It's now about three hours after the earthquake struck, just after 11:00 in the evening.
The electricity has come back on. People have returned back inside. They're trying to get back to sleep. But few people actually can sleep because they're too traumatized by what they've just experienced following the tremendous tragedy three months ago.
NGUYEN: So there is no fear a tsunami will strike that area? Everyone has returned back to normal?
AGLIONBY: Everyone in the neighborhood that I'm in, which is an area that did experience some flooding in the December 26th disaster, appears to be normal. Some people who have fled in their cars have now returned.
There are one or two cars missing that I can see. But, yes, for the most part, it does appear to have returned to normal after quite considerable panic in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about that quake. You were there in Banda Aceh when it happened. Tell me what you experienced.
AGLIONBY: I had just fallen asleep after a long day's work, and I was aroused from my bed. I initially thought, oh, it was just another little aftershock. But then the swaying turned to violent shaking.
I tried to get out of bed after I heard people screaming and shouting outside. But the force of the quake was so strong I couldn't really get to the door. My knees buckled a bit, eventually managed to get outside. And it was difficult to get downstairs.
When I got outside everyone was sort of shaking and concerned, moving their vehicles out of the buildings, fearing that a collapse might happen. But then, after a few minutes, the shaking stopped and then people realized that the buildings were not falling apart, not collapsing. And so they figured, OK, let's wait, let's try and stay calm.
This telegraph was working pretty well. Telephones were going nonstop. So there weren't any reports of any tsunami coming in. The people decided, even though they were in the dark quite literally because there was no power, they decided to wait it out for the most part.
In other areas, there was much more panic. Local TV is reporting that dozens of people have died on an island called Nias off the west coast of Sumatra. This hasn't yet been confirmed.
But perhaps Banda Aceh got off fairly lightly compared to other areas, certainly where I was. There were many panicked people, but then they decided, hang on, let's wait, let's stay calm. And after about 45 minutes, the power came back on and people went back inside.
NGUYEN: You mentioned Nias. We are getting some reports from Reuters that possibly dozens are dead in that area. Are you getting this information from what you're seeing on television? Is that how you know what's happening in the other areas near you?
AGLIONBY: Yes, it is, although there aren't any further reports to corroborate it at the moment. So -- and it's hard to get a telephone linked to me. Obviously it's quite apparent that they have suffered damage, and so we can't get through to them.
And the system's overloaded. But I think in the next few hours the true picture will emerge. As with the December the 26th disaster, it took hours, if not days, before people were fully aware of what had happened. So I think it would be hasty to jump to conclusions, but certainly the news doesn't appear great from there.
NGUYEN: John Aglionby, with "The Guardian" newspaper, who is in Banda Aceh, where he says everything appears to be back to normal right now. That quake hit about three hours ago. It was an 8.2 magnitude, a very large earthquake. But according to John Aglionby, with "The Guardian" newspaper, in Banda Aceh, everything is back to normal there -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Our coverage continues. We're going to take a brief break for a few words from our sponsors. We have more news ahead for you as well.
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O'BRIEN: This is fairly recent video coming in to us. This is around Banda Aceh.
A lot of people obviously very scared, and doing the prudent thing, getting out of town, heading for high ground in the wake of what is now, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, being considered an 8.7 -- 8.7 magnitude earthquake, not far from the site of that December 26th earthquake, which, of course, caused that killer tsunami that went all throughout the Indian Ocean rim.
Thus far, we have had reports of a small tsunami, whatever that means -- we really didn't get a handle. What is a small tsunami? I don't know what that is -- south and southwest of Banda Aceh and Sumatra. And that's where we're going to take you now, to the Cocos Islands. Dieter Gerhard on the line with us now. He is on the ground there.
Dieter, can you hear me?
DIETER GERHARD, COCOS ISLANDS, INDONESIA: Yes, I can. Good morning. Well, good morning from Cocos. It's a bit after 1:30 in the morning here.
O'BRIEN: All right. Tell me what you saw and what you heard in the wake of this earthquake, Dieter.
GERHARD: The telephone ringing, BBC and CNN calling to say, "What happened? " We were all fast asleep and still would be.
O'BRIEN: All right. After you were awakened, was there some concern there about the possibility of a tsunami coming through? Did that occur to people?
GERHARD: Well, we're only just becoming aware of, you know, a second earthquake from Banda Aceh, from -- basically from the press calling us. Being in the middle of the night here, we can't see what the ocean's up to.
But as with the last occurrence, we certainly hope we are safe. There's very deep water all around the Cocos Islands. It means that there's no continental shelf, you know, for the tsunami wave to stand up and become dangerous.
O'BRIEN: Well, and that is an important point to point out to people, is that there is kind of a funneling effect that occurs, making tsunamis a real particular difficult problem, where the water gets suddenly shallow and narrows. Dieter, so no one has told you to evacuate. If there were an evacuation order, where would people go in the Cocos Islands?
GERHARD: Well, we do have a cyclone shelter, you know, for tropical storms. However, you know, my house, where I'm talking to you from at the moment, is only three meters above sea level. And that's really the whole of the island.
So we can certainly evacuate to a cyclone shelter, which would, you know, hopefully protect us from rising water. But -- and any debris in the water, but not necessarily from the height of the water because that building is at ground level.
O'BRIEN: All right. And how far away are you, as the crow flies, to Banda Aceh, from there? Do you know?
GERHARD: No, I don't. But I do know that on the last occurrence, it was only two hours after the earthquake that the waves, you know, arrived at Cocos and continued to arrive pretty much all day. So if the quake was, you know, three hours ago, and there was a wave traveling at the same speed, well then I would assume that it had already been and passed. O'BRIEN: So, it was two hours after the December 26th event. And we're now well into three hours since this particular event. Are people there, you, yourself, included, breathing a little easier now that that two hour time frame has passed?
GERHARD: Right. If the phone hadn't rung, I would have been unaware. You know?
We're -- it's, you know, early hours of the morning here, and we wouldn't have -- we wouldn't have known. So my next call is -- you know, after yours is probably to the local police officer to see if he has any advice for the local citizens or whether he's even been made aware, you know, of the event.
O'BRIEN: Dieter Gerhard on the Cocos Islands. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it. We hope everybody is safe and sound there.
Back with more in a moment.
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