Sumatra earthquake underscores need for long-term help and disaster preparedness

Psychological impacts
Whilst large-scale loss of life and damage to property only occurred in Indonesia, the earthquake has amplified people’s worries and trauma across the Indian Ocean basin. Aid agencies are struggling to cope with the psychosocial impacts of the December tsunami and this earthquake will add to that.

ActionAid’s humanitarian and emergencies coordinator, Dr Unnikrishnan based in Sri Lanka, said: "The psychosocial impact of this earthquake is going to be a huge challenge for humanitarian agencies. Repeated tremors are having a long lasting impact on people’s psyche."

Disaster response
ActionAid also says that the tremors that have occurred over the past months call for a complete shift in the way the world responds to disasters like earthquake and tsunami.

Political commitment and long-term investment in disaster planning and reduction systems are necessary to ensure that communities can still respond quickly once these events become a more distant memory.

"Ordinary people responded fast and this is perhaps the best outcome of the December tsunami. The alert for this earthquake came in the middle of the night and people’s response was instant," said Unnikrishnan.

"We witnessed people moving away from the seaside. They were not taking chances this time. While the international community is still struggling to find resources for an early warning system, people are demonstrating an early response."

ActionAid UK