#4 It might be helpful to point out that this quake is reported as having taken place in Sibolga, Sumatra, which is a good bit south of Aceh, has a lot of Christians in its population and is very close to the nearly 100% Lutheran island of Nias.
Well, then, why the earthquakes? Well, the Pacific Ring of Fire is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
For example, the volcano Krakatoa is located on Rakata, an island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia. Its eruption in 1883 was one of the most catastrophic ever witnessed in recorded history. It still smokes, sometimes.
The devastation in this region can be horrible, as it was when about 170,000 people died in and around Aceh.
And, the kindness of America in responding to the tsunami disaster (affecting mostly North Sumatra and Aceh) was not lost on the Indonesians, who repeatedly made comments like the following:We in Indonesia are grateful and touched by the enormity of international response in meeting the needs of the victims and survivors. The continuing support and assistanceof the United States government provided to the people and government of Indonesia are of great importance in order to mitigate and alleviate the sufferings of the victims. We particularly appreciate the crucial role that the United States Armed Forces play in providing helicopters for relief assistance for victims and survivors at the remote and isolated areas January 2005: Powell, in Indonesia, Vows U.S. Help With Post-Tsunami Recovery
Now the question I keep hearing is: Was all that good old American kindness wasted on a bunch of Aceh islamofascists? Well, I think that the answer to that is that Aceh just elected Irwandi Yusuf to be its governor, and "Irwandi is one of the few open critics of the imposition of Islamic sharia law. Aceh never demanded sharia, he says." Election AcehÂ’s first step towards freer future Basically, as the story goes, the Acehnese now just want to see the economic benefits of peace.
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A quake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra killed at least seven people, injured 150 and damaged hundreds of homes, local officials and police said Monday. Three aftershocks sent residents rushing out of their homes in the region, where memories of the 2004 tsunami which devastated Aceh further to the north are still fresh.