Indonesia quake toll tops 5000

Volunteers search for earthquake victims in rubble. Dimas Ardian / Getty.

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - The death toll from Saturday's 6.3 magnitude quake in Indonesia has reached 5115.

An estimated 35,000 homes and buildings in and around Yogyakarta were reduced to rubble by the quake, and by this morning chances were slim that many people were still alive under the debris.

The tremor early on Saturday was centred just off the Indian Ocean coast near Yogyakarta, the former Javanese royal capital.

Outside Yogyakarta's main hospital, the number of injured being treated was much reduced from Sunday although the corridors were still packed with patients.

"I am still traumatised, especially when it rained last night," said Sartoyo, who had come to the hospital from a nearby village. "Everyone was in panic ... and rushing inside the hospital.

"I heard help is on the way," he added. "We badly need tents, please note that. Do not forsake us."

Government figures put the number of injured at 2155, but the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) said 20,000 had been injured and more than 100,000 made homeless.

Government and private aid agencies have said shelter in the form of tents is a top aid priority, along with clean water supplies.

The international community has rallied to help, offering medical relief teams, disaster experts and emergency supplies.

The government declared a three-month emergency and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono moved his office to Yogyakarta.

After a cabinet meeting late on Sunday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla put relief and rebuilding costs at around 1 trillion rupiah ($168 million) and said the government aimed to complete "reconstruction and rehabilitation" within a year.

Mr Kalla said the quake had destroyed power facilities worth 200 billion rupiah and deprived tens of thousands of electricity.

In Yogyakarta on Monday, a group from Peditan village were loading dozens of friends and relatives onto a lorry to head home.

Walji Mardiutomo, whose mother in her 70s was injured in the quake, said: "Doctors said she can go home, her forehead has been stitched. Fourteen people out of 600 from our villages died."

"Our village is flat to the ground. We will used makeshift tents to stay there," she said.

Medical supplies and body bags arrived at the airport of Yogyakarta, about 25 km (16 miles) from the coast. The airport was closed to commercial traffic.

A vulcanologist said the quake had heightened activity at nearby Mount Merapi, a volcano that experts believe may be about to erupt. Merapi has been rumbling for weeks and sporadically emitting hot lava and highly toxic hot gas.

Throughout the disaster-struck region, authorities struggled to deliver aid.

"The problem now is that we are still short of tents, many people are still living on the streets or open areas," Suseno, a field officer of the Yogyakarta disaster task force, said.

Social Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah urged understanding. "I have already told you that the area destroyed by the quake is very large ... We need time."

- REUTERS