INDONESIA'S GOVERNMENT DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER A QUAKE KILLED MORE THAN 4,600 PEOPLE, AND RESCUE WORKERS RACED AGAINST TIME ON MONDAY IN THE HOPE OF FINDING SURVIVORS UNDER THE DEBRIS OF RAZED HOMES, REUTERS REPORTED. SOME 35,000 BUILDINGS AROUND THE CITY OF YOGYAKARTA WERE REDUCED TO RUBBLE WHEN A 6.3 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK AT THE CRACK OF DAWN ON SATURDAY. AFTER A CABINET MEETING LATE ON SUNDAY, VICE PRESIDENT JUSUF KALLA SAID THE EMERGENCY PERIOD WOULD LAST THREE MONTHS AND THE GOVERMENT AIMED TO COMPLETE "RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION" WITHIN A YEAR. "WE WILL HAVE AN EMERGENCY PERIOD FOR THREE MONTHS, MAY TILL AUGUST. THE OBJECTIVES ARE PROVIDING FOOD, HEALTH CARE AND SHELTER," KALLA TOLD REPORTERS. "THE FUNDS NEEDED ARE ABOUT 1 TRILLION RUPIAHS ($100 MILLION) ... FOR REPAIRING HOMES AND FACILITATING PEOPLE'S NEEDS. THIS FIGURE CAN CHANGE. IT COMES FROM THE STATE BUDGET AND INTERNATIONAL AID." AN ESTIMATED 35,000 HOMES AND BUILDINGS HAD BEEN DESTROYED AND 50,000 PEOPLE NEEDED HELP, KALLA SAID, ADDING THAT THE QUAKE HAD DESTROYED POWER FACILITIES WORTH 200 BILLION RUPIAHS. GOVERNMENT FIGURES PUT THE NUMBER OF INJURED AT 2,155, BUT UNICEF (U.N. CHILDREN'S FUND) SPOKESMAN JOHN BUDD SAID 20,000 HAD BEEN INJURED AND MORE THAN 100,000 WERE HOMELESS. TRUCKS FULL OF VOLUNTEERS FROM INDONESIAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND ISLAMIC GROUPS, AS WELL AS MILITARY VEHICLES CARRYING SOLDIERS, HEADED SOUTH FROM THE ANCIENT ROYAL CITY TO BANTUL, THE AREA HARDEST HIT. "THOUSANDS OF HOUSES ARE DAMAGED AND PEOPLE MAY STILL BE TRAPPED BENEATH THEM," GHOZALI SITUMORANG, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF AID MANAGEMENT FOR THE NATIONAL SOCIAL DEPARTMENT, TOLD YOGYAKARTA RADIO. MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND BODY BAGS ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT OF YOGYAKARTA, ABOUT 25 KM (15 MILES) FROM THE INDIAN OCEAN COAST. SATURDAY'S QUAKE WAS CENTRED JUST OFFSHORE. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS OFFERED MEDICAL TEAMS AND EMERGENCY SUPPLIES. INDONESIAN PRESIDENT SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO HAS MOVED HIS OFFICE TEMPORARILY TO YOGYAKARTA. A VULCANOLOGIST SAID THE QUAKE HAD HEIGHTENED VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AT NEARBY MOUNT MERAPI, WHICH EXPERTS BELIEVE MAY BE ABOUT TO ERUPT. MERAPI HAS BEEN RUMBLING FOR WEEKS AND SPORADICALLY EMITTING HOT LAVA AND HIGHLY TOXIC HOT GAS. --MORE
