http://www.smh.com.au/world/aceh-sees-disasters-as-sign-of-gods-wrath-20120413-1wyuw.html
Aceh sees disasters as sign of God's wrath Michael Bachelard April 14, 2012 "Things happen for a reason" ... Rizni Aulia believes this week's earthquake, like the one in 2004, was a warning from Allah. "Things happen for a reason" ... Rizni Aulia believes this week's earthquake, like the one in 2004, was a warning from Allah. Photo: Michael Bachelard WHEN pentecostal pastor Danny Nalliah thundered that the 2009 Victorian bushfires were caused by God's wrath at that state's decision to decriminalise abortion, he was an outlier even among radical Christians. But in Aceh, Indonesia's most devout province (and its most disaster prone), it's not just common but mainstream to believe that Wednesday's terrifying earthquake, like the tsunami before it, was a messages from Allah that people were not taking their religion seriously enough. Like many, Acehnese man Rizni Aulia's suffering from the 2004 tsunami was profound. Of his family, only he and his wife survived the wave. Together they watched from the second storey of their house as their three-year-old daughter and many other family members drowned outside, trapped in the family car. Advertisement: Story continues below The horror of that day came alive again on Wednesday as an earthquake shook the region, prompting fears of another deadly wave . Mr Rizni, like thousands of other Acehnese, took refuge at the mosque. ''Some people went to the mosque because it is quite high, 16 metres,'' Mr Rizni, 32, said yesterday. ''But it's true that during the afternoon and the evening prayers, they all prayed, through all the aftershocks, they stayed there, some praying, some reading the Koran, all the mothers looking after the children.'' In Islam, he believes, natural disasters are ''little doomsdays''. ''It's about warnings from God to his people about the mistakes they have committed, the wrongdoing they have committed,'' he said. Imam Nurcholis Muhammad Yunus, of the Al Kawa Kib village mosque, on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, is by no means a radical preacher. He is not surprised that people flocked to places of worship to find safety. ''Since we were kids our parents taught us that the biggest protector is Allah and the mosque is Allah's house on earth,'' he said. But, as well as faith, he said, good sense intervened. Nobody came to his mosque because it is built on a low, flat piece of land that is only protected from the sea by high walls. ''We don't blindly believe things. We also use logic,'' he says. He believes the 2004 tsunami and Wednesday's earthquake were God's comment on the lifestyles of the people of Aceh. ''We have the rooms of some very respected clerics here, sacred people … but despite that, people here were drunk and had drugs and women, and so that is why … God was angry,'' Mr Nurcholis said. ''Now with the earthquake, the same thing has happened again, because only a few people implemented Islamic sharia.'' Of all places to attract God's wrath, Aceh is perhaps the least likely. It's Indonesia's most devout province, known as the verandah of Mecca, and the only place in this moderate Muslim country to practice sharia. Offences such as drinking, gambling and unmarried people being close to one another are punished by caning. But Mr Rizni says most of his friends and most of the people in Aceh agree with the Imam. They are not angry with God for the tsunami or the earthquake. Rather, they try to accept its lessons. ''I am becoming more devout compared with the way I was before the tsunami of 2004, because I believe things happen for a reason,'' Mr Rizni says. ''I think God wants us to be stronger.'' Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/aceh-sees-disasters-as-sign-of-gods-wrath-20120413-1wyuw.html#ixzz1s3ZsGHUd ++++ http://www.smh.com.au/world/padang-now-the-prime-target-for-the-big-one-due-any-time-20120413-1wyv2.html#ixzz1s3aT7cLb Padang now the prime target for the big one, due any time Deborah Smith April 14, 2012 . THIS week's earthquakes off the coast of northern Sumatra did nothing to reduce the risk of the much-feared big one - a gigantic quake and tsunami that could devastate the city of Padang further south. Seismologists predict it could occur at any time, due to a build up of stress under the island of Siberut that has not been relieved for more than 200 years. John McCloskey, from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, said the 1 million inhabitants of Padang would receive very little warning. ''There will be very strong shaking and 30 minutes later, the wave arrives,'' Professor McCLoskey said. Advertisement: Story continues below A security guard walks through damage to a building a day after a powerful earthquake hit the west coast of Indonesia. A security guard walks through damage to a building a day after a powerful earthquake hit the west coast of Indonesia. Photo: AFP Though the city had carried out some valuable preparations more infrastructure, such as a five-metre-high football field for evacuation purposes, was urgently needed. ''That could save 150,000 people,'' he said. Professor McCloskey predicted in 2005 that another devastating earthquake would be triggered by the massive 2004 Boxing Day one. Two weeks later, in March, the magnitude 8.6 quake occurred near Nias. along the Sunda megathrust - the tectonic plate boundary off Sumatra where the Indo-Australian plate plunges beneath the Eurasian plate. At the time, Professor McCloskey said people tended to think that lightning never struck twice in the same place. ''But with earthquakes, it's exactly the opposite,'' he said. Professor McCloskey said the segment of megathrust further south under Siberut, just west of Padang, had not ruptured since 1797 and the centuries of accumulated stress was enough to create a magnitude 8.7 or 8.8 earthquake. His team's research shows a ''strong probability'' of five to six metre high waves hitting Padang, similar to those in 1797, and to the 2004 Aceh tsunami. But not all big earthquakes generate big tsunamis, he said. ''That is our main hope, that the style of the earthquake will not generate the big wave.'' Nearby quakes in 2007 and 2009 had not released geological stress in this Siberut segment, and this week's quakes were ''too far away and going in the wrong direction'' to have had an effect. It was important to study how the people of Banda Aceh had reacted to this week's quakes, to help gauge how quickly those in Padang will try to escape, he said. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/padang-now-the-prime-target-for-the-big-one-due-any-time-20120413-1wyv2.html#ixzz1s3aT7cLb [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
