Earthquake in Sumatra
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale on the Indonesian island of Sumatra in early October of 2009 claimed at least 1115 lives, destroyed 135,000 houses and seriously threaten up to 250 000 families. The disaster destroyed most roads and other infrastructure, and massive landslides and avalanches of mud swallowed up many smaller towns and villages. Some people still did not receive assistance to build a new shelter. In my project among several months I made portraits of poor people from their destroyed homes. Still live in hope for a miracle, even though they left almost nothing. Although life slowly returns to normal tracks, geologists have long warned that the Indonesian city of Padang with 900 thousand inhabitants may one day destroy earthquakes because it lies on a seismically active section of one of the most tectonically turbulent regions of the world.

© Copyright by Jan Caga
Photo ID: Earthquake01