Oxfam provides drinking water and shelter to thousands as 600,000 are hit by Indonesia earthquake

6th August

Oxfam is providing clean drinking water and tarpaulin shelter sheets to 5,000 survivors as a devastating 7-Richter magnitude earthquake, the second within a week, hit Lombok Island in Indonesia earlier today.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency puts the death toll at 91 with over 200 injured. 600,000 people are affected in total, with up to 80% of the population displaced in four out of the five districts of Lombak (Northern, Western, Eastern and Central Lombak). Many are still reported buried due to landslides in the hills and the rubble of thousands of homes and buildings that have collapsed following the main earthquake and multiple aftershocks.

Over 20,000 people are in temporary shelters while thousands more are under open skies in need of drinking water, food, medical supplies, and clothes. Clean drinking water is scarce due to the extremely dry weather conditions leading up the disaster.

Following the first 6.5 magnitude earthquake last week, Oxfam had dispatched a mobile water treatment plant, 1,500 tarpaulins for shelter, and clothing material, and set up an emergency relief information centre to support the work of the local humanitarian partners. Oxfam will not intensify its aid delivery efforts immediately.

While all Oxfam and partner staff on Lombok are safe, many project sites had been hit hard by the quakes halting the regular operations. However, they continue to provide emergency aid to those affected by the latest quake.

ENDS

Oxfam has spokespeople available in Ireland and on the ground to discuss the humanitarian situation.

CONTACT:

For interviews or more information, contact:

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Alice Dawson-Lyons, Oxfam Ireland, on +353 (0) 83 198 1869 / alice.dawsonlyons@oxfamireland.org

NORTHERN IRELAND: Phillip Graham on 0044 (0) 7841 102535 / phillip.graham@oxfamireland.org