HEALTH workers in Indonesia’s quake-hit Sumatra are battling to contain local outbreaks of diarrhoea and dengue fever, and require more specialist equipment, officials and a doctor said yesterday.

RESCUERS rushed back into the rubble yesterday after a woman’s cries for help were reported coming from a collapsed hotel six days after Indonesia’s devastating earthquake — but the search was in vain.

RESCUE workers called off the search yesterday for life under the rubble left by a massive earthquake, focusing instead on bringing aid to survivors in the towns and hills of western Indonesia, despite being hampered by torrential rains.

Search teams lost hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble left by a massive earthquake as torrential rain held up aid in the remote hills of western Indonesia where several villages were wiped out.

HEAVY rains hampered search teams yesterday in the hills of western Indonesia where hundreds of people were buried alive in landslides triggered by a massive earthquake that wiped out four villages.

An earthquake survivor trapped in a collapsed hotel in western Indonesia sent a text message saying he and some others were alive, triggering a frantic rescue operation, but hopes faded today as sniffer dogs failed to detect life.

RESCUERS pulled two women alive from their collapsed college, nearly two days after a powerful earthquake devastated western Indonesia, as cries for help from a flattened hotel spurred the frantic search for more survivors yesterday.

LIMERICK tsunami survivor Triona O’Neill and her family are expected to arrive in Australia tomorrow following her dramatic escape from the disaster.

PADANG’S inhabitants are well aware of the dangers of living on top of one of the world’s most active fault lines, but the huge earthquake that struck their port city still took most by surprise as it wreaked devastation and death.

INDONESIA said last night it fears thousands have died in a major earthquake as exhausted rescue workers clawed through mountains of rubble with their bare hands to find survivors.

The Minister for Overseas Aid Peter Power has pledged €500,000 for the victims of the natural disasters in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

A second powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia today as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of the previous day’s shock which is feared to have killed thousands.

A government official today said the death toll from yesterday’s earthquake on Indonesia’s Sumatra island has reached 467.

Another powerful quake hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island today, the US Geological Survey said.

A POWERFUL earthquake rocked western Indonesia yesterday, trapping thousands under collapsed buildings – including two hospitals – and triggering landslides.

Thousands of people were feared killed by a massive earthquake that flattened homes in Sumatra today.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre have lifted its tsunami alert following a powerful underwater earthquake rocked western Indonesia today.

A powerful underwater earthquake rocked western Indonesia today, triggering a tsunami alert for countries along the Indian Ocean.

A powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra today, the US Geological Survey said.

Powerful earthquakes struck Indonesia for a third day today, terrorising thousands of people who were refusing to return to their homes in fear of tsunami and falling debris.

An Indonesian girl kisses her cat near her collapsed house in Lais, Bengkulu, Sumatra island, Indonesia, yesterday.

A series of powerful earthquakes jolted Indonesia in less than 24 hours, sending a 10-foot tsunami crashing to shore and damaging hundreds of houses as panicked residents fled to the hills.

A second powerful earthquake in as many days jolted Southeast Asia and triggered a regional tsunami warning today, damaging hundreds of buildings along Indonesia’s western coast and sending panicked residents fleeing inland.

A massive earthquake killed at least 10 people, injured scores and triggered a small tsunami in western Indonesia today, authorities said.

RELIEF operations swung into gear yesterday, a day after a powerful quake rocked the Indonesian island of Sumatra, as a senior official revised the death toll down to 52.

A powerful earthquake jolted western Indonesia today, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds as they fled shaking buildings, crumpled homes and hospitals, authorities said. Two school children were crushed by debris on a playground.

A powerful earthquake flattened hundreds of buildings in western Indonesia today, killing as many as 70 people and leaving hospitals grappling with scores of injured.

A powerful earthquake in western Indonesia killed at least nine people today, flattening hundreds of buildings and overwhelming hospitals on Sumatra island.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national calamity today as the top Red Cross official estimated more than 1,000 people have been killed after a massive typhoon unleashed walls of black mud on entire villages.

Hopes virtually vanished today for finding survivors of typhoon-triggered mudslides that engulfed entire villages in the eastern Philippines, with the Red Cross fearing the death toll could reach 700.

Typhoon Durian smashed into the Philippines with heavy rains and winds gusting up to 165 mph, spawning flash floods and sending walls of muddy volcanic ash and red-hot boulders crashing down on several villages, officials said today.

The fourth devastating super typhoon in as many months has battered the Philippines, setting off a volcanic mudslide and widespread flooding that killed at least 109 people and left dozens more missing, officials said today.

MOURNERS from across the world wept, prayed and observed moments of silence along ravaged Indian Ocean coastlines yesterday to remember those killed by one of nature’s deadliest disasters.

IN Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sumatra island, one survivor dismissively gestured at a jumble of scrap iron and plastic sheeting — all that remains of his neighbourhood.

The world remembered the fury of the Indian Ocean tsunami that swept away at least 223,000 people in 12 countries and laid waste to entire communities in one of the worst natural disasters in memory.

The world’s grief and compassion returned to the Indian Ocean’s tsunami-battered shores today, marking a year since giant waves crashed ashore in a dozen countries, laying waste to communities and sweeping away at least 216,000 lives.

A 6.9 magnitude undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sumatra Island today, triggering panic in several cities. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A strong earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island today, causing people to flee their homes, the state news agency said. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Up to 25,000 villagers have been evacuated from the slopes of a rumbling volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island despite assurances by scientists today that the mountain was calming down.

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Hong Kong seismologists reported today.

AN undersea earthquake that hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra yesterday sent people fleeing from their homes in panic, but the tremor was not strong enough to generate a tsunami, seismologists and meteorologists said.

A strong earthquake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra today, Hong Kong seismologists said.

Two strong earthquakes hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra today, Hong Kong seismologists said, likely aftershocks of the powerful 8.7-magnitude quake that hit the region last week.