Java earthquake 2006
Last reviewed: 02-01-2007
Disaster in ancient royal city
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calculated at the end of 2006 that nearly 5,800 people had lost their lives and more than 38,000 were injured in the quake, which completely destroyed some 127,000 houses. An additional 450,000 homes were partially damaged. The epicentre of the quake was offshore, raising initial fears of a tsunami which did not materialise. But the humanitarian aid response was complicated by heightened volcanic activity on nearby Mount Merapi, which had begun spewing lava, ash and vapour in early May. Thousands of villagers were evacuated from the upper slopes of the volcano, but a full eruption did not occur and activity has subsequently died down. Yogyakarta, which is twinned with Kyoto in Japan, is about 25 km (16 miles) north of the Indian Ocean coast and 440 km (275 miles) east of Jakarta.
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