Eyewitness Accounts From The Sumatra Earthquake

By Tim Fisher

Pic Ronald Arnoldi

“It’s not a total disaster, but it’s a disaster for those who were totalled.” - Martin Daly calls ASL from the centre of Padang.

Martin Daly, captain of the Indies Trader charter fleet, arrived in downtown Padang this morning. As he moved through the city assessing the damage, he came across a 26-year-old South African surfer climbing over the rubble of one of the worst-hit hotels, Spice Homestay, looking for his passport. Graeme De Hass was in Padang for the first time, and had been off the plane from Bali for less than three hours when the earthquake hit.

Martin called ASL from his mobile, and passed the phone to Graeme.

“I’m still shaking, it’s unbelievable. It was like something out of Hollywood. It was absolute chaos. The ground was shaking, people riding scooters were crashing all around us and as we turned around we saw our hotel just collapse," Graeme told us.

Pic Ronald Arnoldi

"We'd been in Padang for three hours after flying in from Bali. A local at the airport had given us a lift in to town and helped us find accommodation - we got the last two beds at the Spice Homestay . We walked inside and dropped our gear off, said hello to a few people who were staying in the same room then went outside to withdraw some money and get something to eat when the quake happened. Me and my mate had our passports, all our gear, three brand new boards, everything was in there.”

"As far as I know everyone in the hotel made it out safely. There was one other surfer with me and my friend and we haven't seen him again, but we've heard he was okay,” he told ASL.

When Martin got back on the line, he described a surreal scene of borderline normality amongst the ruined buildings. “It’s really hard to describe, there’s no panic, people are going to the market to go shopping. It seems awfully normal. Shops are open, restaurants are open, there’s an incredible air of normality,” Martin told ASL. “The sun’s out, it’s a beautiful day, it is surreal.

“Driving in from the airport, unless someone had told me there was an earthquake, I wouldn’t have known,” he said. “But there are areas of town that are just fucken totalled. One in ten buildings have been reduced to rubble in the worst part of town and there are lots of locals on the streets starting the cleanup, or just rubbernecking, checking it all out and taking photos with their phones.”

Pic Ronald Arnoldi

The main part of downtown Padang with the oldest, most established buildings, is the worst-affected.

“The hotel Batang Arau is undamaged but all buildings around it are smashed. A lot of the old buildings, some of them three or four hundred years old, are rubble,” Martin said.
“That’s the weird thing about these earthquakes. It’s not a total disaster, it’s a disaster for those who were totalled. There are still standing houses next to piles of bricks where the neighbours used to be.”

“There’s a lot of sightseeing going on. There’s motorbikes everywhere. Indonesians have a fantastic capacity to get on with it. They don’t run around being victims, they understand no-one’s going to help them but themselves so they get on with it. It’s terrific to see.”

Martin was taking photos while walking through the city speaking with ASL. He’ll be sending them through as soon as he’s back on his boat this afternoon so check this page later in the day for more.