Java quake damage worse than tsunami: reconstruction to cost 3 billion dollars

Estimates of damage done to buildings are rising: 157,000 homes have been destroyed, 30,000 more than those destroyed in the wake of the 2004 freak wave. Around 420,000 people are homeless.


Yogyakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The earthquake that hit Indonesia at the end of May has caused more damage than the tsunami. Estimates released by the Indonesian Development Ministry amount to 3.1 billion dollars, more than double initial assessments.

The World Bank said the impact of the Java earthquake was much worse than first thought and could be considered as one of the worst natural disasters of the past 10 years.

Although the death toll (5,800) is lower than that of the 2004 tsunami or the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, the cost of damaged housing is far greater.

From this perspective, the cost of damages by the tsunami of 2.2 billion dollars across Indonesia may be compared to an estimated 1.6 billion dollars of destruction in central Java province alone.

The National Agency for the Coordination of Assistance for Natural Disasters said nearly 157,000 homes (30,000 more compared to the tsunami that crushed Aceh) were flattened, 184,000 were severely damaged and 259,000 partially so.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 27 May left more than 420,000 homeless, mostly in Bantul and Klaten regencies south of Yogyakarta.