Earthquake and Flood

For decades there have been stories of people dreaming that the mountain lake would break open and flood the valley below, washing it all to the sea.  I won’t be suprised if I start hearing those stories again.  Last week the area experienced a 6.2 earthquake. The center was very near that inland lake and that area was the hardest hit. Hundreds of relatively simple village houses in the district were flattened or so severely damaged that they need to be knocked down because they are no longer safe. Six people were killed and dozens injured mainly contusians, bruises, broken bones, head injuries. A ten kilometer stretch of the road from the city was blocked by dozens of landslides which slowed down relief efforts for several days. The lake itself is in the middle of a national forest and the only way into that area is 3 hours by motorbike over a treacherous mountainous jungle trail – once you get past the 10 kilometers of landslides on the main road.

The quake was felt over a wide area. In the city 50 kilometers away, the earthquake seemed to not cause much damage but certainly created some panic, particularly among shoppers at a 3-story mall.  It happened late Saturday afternoon near sunset as many people were preparing to celebrate the end of the month of fasting. One man described it as a strong jolt, followed by an even stronger jolt and then nearly two minutes of swaying. He opined that the swaying was what knocked down so many houses.

The area is located on a major fault line. Experts say the opposing sides of the fault move about 3 cm a year.  The last major quake was 2009 (see entry “Rumblings”). In 2004 the hot springs at a village near where I stay burst open with hot water shooting 3-4 meters into the air. This time the quake was further inland in the mountains and apparently didn’t affect that hot spring but caused a lot more damage to villages in the mountains.

So, while many from that disaster are living in tents and wondering what to do next, another disaster hit the province on the other side of the mountains. This past Saturday during a heavy downpour around 9pm a huge flash flood slammed into 8 villages along a river. The water was carrying huge logs (illegal logging up stream??) which have caused tremendous damage, perhaps the worst being two bridges on the main trans-island hiway along the coast. Traffic from one end of the island to the other has been effectively stopped as there are no good alternative routes. Most alternative routes meander through mountains and are likely to have a number of landslides, common after a period of heavy rain.

So far we have heard that three people were killed, a 2-year-old still missing. At least two of the affected villages are people of the No language group. People there don't usually live on the river banks but since the land is pretty flat right there, a huge rise in water level would affect houses near by. One friend who was there visiting relatives has been stranded, unable to get transportation. Another man returning from further away has had to turn around and go back until the driver can figure out an alternative route. The traffic at one point was backed up nearly 5 kilometers.

Usually when a bridge collapses, traffic just drives down the bank and through the water at a shallow area but this river is too fast and too deep for that. Today I hear that people are crossing in boats where one of the bridge is broken.

Again, dozens of houses have been damaged. On the other side of the mountains, two gold miners were carried off and drowned in the torrent of the river on that site, and down below in the city, several houses along that river were carried away and a couple dozen more filled with mud.

It's been quite a time in No-land lately!

 *Pictures off the internet.