earthquake that triggered tsunamis that left some 300,000 dead. The largest town on the island, Gunungsitoli, was still reporting some of the worst damage and numbers of casualties, with officials saying some 80 percent of buildings and homes in the city had collapsed. "Gunungsitoli is a dead city," said Agus Mendrofa, an official from Nias district, adding that electricity had been completely cut off in the city. Antara, Indonesia's state-run news agency, reported that Monday's earthquake also destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings in the district town of Singkil in Aceh. There were still no reports of casualties from the mainland province of Aceh. Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi, speaking on local el-Shinta radio, said the earthquake prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to postpone his visit to Australia, scheduled for Wednesday. Kalla and Yudhoyono were expected to visit the island on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Mar'ie Muhammad, the head of Indonesia's Red Cross, said communication with other islands, such as Simeulue nearby, had been largely cut off so they were still unable to ascertain the full extent of casualties or damage. "The communications with another set of islands, the Simeulue, remain cut off," said Muhammad. "The condition of the people on the islands is still unknown." The Red Cross had already flown medical equipment and a team of paramedics to Nias, where at least 340 residents were killed and some 10,000 left homeless after the December 26 quake. The new quake panicked still-traumatized Sumatrans and others across the region, but many were returning home Tuesday as the threat of a major tsunami appeared behind them. Residents on the island of Sumatra, particularly in Aceh - the province hardest hit by the earlier disaster - had fled their homes for higher ground as governments throughout the region issued warnings the quake could trigger another tsunami like the one in December that killed or left missing more than 220,000 people in Aceh alone.
