Hundreds of people are dead and thousands more buried under rubble following a massive earthquake which has hit the city of Padang in Indonesia. A powerful second tremor shook West Sumatra hours after the initial 7.6 magnitude quake.

Caritas staff on the ground are carrying out assessments on the number of casualties and the needs of survivors.

Staff report difficulties in gathering information from Padang as few phone lines work. The main airport in West Sumatra, where the earthquake struck was initially closed after the disaster, but has now reopened. There are some difficulties in accessing Padang by road from some directions

An international Caritas team is preparing to head to Padang as part of ongoing evaluations.

Temporary shelter is needed as many people fled their homes during the tremors and are afraid to return as a large number of houses were are in a perilous state. Other damage so far includes a collapsed bridge and damage to a hospital.

The Caritas team will make a quick assessment of needs of survivors and coordinate the response.

This is the second powerful earthquake to hit Indonesia in a month. On 2 September, Java suffered a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which killed dozens of people.

Please contact Michelle Hough on +39 06 69879721/+39 334 2344136 or hough@caritas.va