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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2018 18:00:24 GMT
That's two big earthquakes in just a week with lots of deaths. The videos are pretty scary.
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Post by questa on Aug 6, 2018 0:29:12 GMT
I have not been able to contact my 'family' or village since the first one. That one seems to have affected the mountain area more but this one has caused damage in Mataram on the west coast...about 3-4 km from my village. The land is mostly flat, hence the tsunami warning which has now been cancelled. More later...
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2018 1:34:37 GMT
You must be frantic, Questa.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 6, 2018 5:21:08 GMT
My brother is in Bali and said it was alarming and went on and on.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 6, 2018 6:33:18 GMT
I do hope your news is good questa.
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Post by questa on Aug 6, 2018 9:00:07 GMT
Not so much frantic, Bixa. The places where the damage was worst were mostly built without qualified supervision and using 2nd and 3rd grade materials. I knew that my friends' houses were built properly with earthquakes in mind. I was just concerned as I hadn't heard from them.
I received an email an hour ago to say all was well, no injuries or damage in 'our' houses but some old houses in the village 'fell over'. Having the electricity on again makes a big difference, also living in the shadow of a stroppy volcano and having frequent tremors and quakes means they get a bit blase until a big one hits.
There are specially trained squads of men who hit the ground running when a disaster hits. Within minutes they are there with whatever equipment is needed. The locals get commandeered into groups and told what to do, rather than running around getting in the way. With all the upheavals from landslides to tsunami, bombs, volcanoes and earthquakes, they get a lot of practice.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 6, 2018 10:59:53 GMT
Oh, that is reassuring, at least for your friends, but horrible for the people who have to live in substandard housing.
I always think of Lombok not only because of the beautiful red peppers but also because Lombokstraat is one of the many streets in Indische Buurt named for Indonesian islands.
Tremors are frequent in central Italy too, I remember how blasé people were in Umbria, but then there was a significant quake in Assisi that destroyed some of the Giotto frescoes in the Cathedral. And of course there were far worse quakes nearby.
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Post by mossie on Aug 6, 2018 13:44:57 GMT
Glad things are OK for your people Questa, earthquakes are never good news.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2018 13:50:14 GMT
Fumobici, is your brother in Bali on vacation, or does he live there? I know what he means about "waves" -- different earthquakes are perceived differently, but they're all disconcerting and at least a little bit scary.
Glad you got relatively good news, Questa. I assume the construction there is wood, correct? Of course it hardly matters how well ones house is constructed if you happen to be somewhere else when the quake hits.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 6, 2018 15:16:29 GMT
Fumobici, is your brother in Bali on vacation, or does he live there? He is scouting Bali for the possibility of retiring there.
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Post by questa on Aug 7, 2018 2:02:47 GMT
Fumobici, Like thousands of others have. The ex-pat communities are growing huge, specially around the central hills areas like Ubud. I have noticed that the people who are very flexible and don't expect things to be like their home culture are happier than those who expect things to be on time, done to your expectations, not ripped off and being the truth. There are frustrations that you have to accept and if prepared to join in with the local people in their culture and customs it is a wonderful place to live.
Bixa. originally houses were bamboo poles supporting tightly woven bamboo slats for walls, with thatch roofs of thick grass bundles. The floor was compacted earth. The Dutch introduced cement, bricks, tiles, timber and glass as they built Dutch style houses and buildings.
The typical village house is small, concrete footings, timber frame and walls made of clay bricks or handmade concrete bricks. Timber trusses and joists hold up the fairly steep roof which is tiled with brown tiles. Inside is a toilet/shower room, a kitchen with a concrete bench and sink, a bedroom and family area. At the front 2-3 steps up from the ground is a veranda of concrete where most of the home activity takes place. The floors, steps benches etc are tiled with ceramic tiles, windows and doors are timber and glass. Inside walls are plastered and outside walls cement rendered. Sometimes between the roof and walls, the top layer of bricks are breeze blocks. The paintwork is white with brown exposed timbers.
You can tell I have physically helped building 2 such houses. They didn't 'fall over' unlike some of the others in the village. The problem is people try to save money by adding too much sand to the cement, using cracked bricks and warped or knot holed timbers.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 7, 2018 9:49:01 GMT
The official death toll is still around one hundred, but I'm sure that once they start counting again, it will go considerably higher... What's the latest on Lombok?
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Post by questa on Aug 7, 2018 13:51:18 GMT
Thanks for the link, K2. I have only seen quick grabs of news. For some reason the media here are not giving this news story the full treatment that they would normally. The piece about evacuating the Gili isles made my blood run cold.The little boats that ferry people from the mainland are dead scary. Each time I have been in one they are so low in the water that you can't move in your seat quickly or the sea splashes into the boat. They also break down frequently...outboard motors are old and tired. I've been in one that had to be towed to its dock. How terrifying for the tourists doing the crossing in the dark with what would be over the max passengers all in shock.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 7, 2018 15:04:39 GMT
That reminds me of the boat that I took in the Maldives way back when. It took 45 minutes to get from the airport to the islet of Bandos. I was the only passenger but I still got pretty soaked.
At least normal ferry service has resumed between Bali and Lombok.
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Post by questa on Aug 8, 2018 2:52:44 GMT
Normally these are also overloaded, life jackets for about half the people, many heavy trucks in the hold. My friends and I would sit out on the deck under shade made by spare sarongs we've tied to the ropes. If there is a swell running the locals get seasick and lean over the rail on one side of the ferry...which develops a list and the Captain has to get some to change sides. Lombok people have seafaring ancestors and seem to cope with the sea normally, but Balinese are culturally afraid of the monsters, spirits and deadliness of open water. They tend to lie down, cover their faces and sleep for the 3 hour crossing.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 9, 2018 4:27:54 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 9, 2018 4:31:02 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 9, 2018 6:05:32 GMT
And now there's just been another 5.9 earthquake on Lombok, destroying more buildings.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 9, 2018 6:56:48 GMT
Those poor people.
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Post by questa on Aug 9, 2018 12:59:09 GMT
My friend in Lombok says that this afternoon's quake had tsunami warnings with it. People are in such a state they are panicking and false rumours are everywhere. i should think there would be a lot of looting and villagers caught between staying put to protect their goods and risk a tsunami, or head for the mountains and leave their homes open.
Kasihan, Lombok
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Post by questa on Aug 10, 2018 12:54:35 GMT
I have been following the face book conversations of my friends in Lombok. Mostly young men with young families. They speak and write in a new abbreviated slang which I don't fully understand, but here are some incidences.
Many people have had their motor bikes stolen. One woman is known as a thief of bikes and they expected it of her, but for so-and-so to steal a bike has rocked the village...discussion of how to get the bike back.
Friend had rigged a tarpaulin to give shelter to the little kids...someone stole the tarp. Group of 3 men going to retrieve it, think they know who took it.
One shop in Mataram is profiteering on foodstuffs, charging higher prices than normal. Young woman is organising a demonstration outside the shop. Man says they will burn the shop down if the owner doesn't lower prices.
(in the late 1900s, just before I arrived there, Lombok was awash with the anger at the Chinese shopkeepers. There were terrible riots. Shops, churches and houses burnt down, people died and the National army sent to quell the mayhem. At the moment all the people are terrified with 10 shocks a day and not able to sleep, added to their grief and loss. It would only take a spark to ignite the whole thing again. My friend was racially insulted by a shop owner who also mocked Allah. Friend told me that if ever there is an uprising, he personally would burn that shop)
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Post by lagatta on Aug 19, 2018 11:32:34 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2018 11:37:03 GMT
Besides the 460 people killed in the previous earthquakes, I read somewhere that there is something like 100,000 newly homeless people.
It must be extremely nervewracking, because they can't even think "well, at least the earthquake is finished; we can start rebuilding...."
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Post by questa on Aug 19, 2018 14:01:48 GMT
"My" village has finally copped big damage, no-one dead but my adopted family are living in a tent in the dry rice fields, close enough to their house to guard it. They are still getting frequent big aftershocks which at any other time would be counted as full on earthquakes. The tourists may not be coming but hundreds of Oz and other nationals who know Bali/Lombok have come in and just picked up tools and started clearing debris, looking after people and living with the local people. My friend posts on facebook with maps from the Official Website which show the epicentres shifting around the island. He is owner/manager of a tour company and this will hit him hard.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2018 20:23:48 GMT
Shit, now there has been a 6.9 earthquake the same day. They must think that it is the end of days in Lombok.
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Post by questa on Aug 20, 2018 0:10:50 GMT
Kesabaran tiada batas
This is becoming a sort of catch-cry for the people of Lombok,
It means "Patience has no limits"
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 25, 2018 21:40:25 GMT
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Post by questa on Sept 30, 2018 5:41:51 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 30, 2018 5:53:58 GMT
That looks so much like many places in coastal Oaxaca which never received enough help and relief after the earthquakes.
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Post by questa on Sept 30, 2018 6:00:48 GMT
I guess the face of despair looks the same world wide, no matter what colour the skin is.
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