**Businesses were trying to reopen in the Sumatran city of Padang and schools reopened in tents to offer children counselling after the deadly quake.**At least 1,000 people have died and 3,000 remain missing after the powerful earthquake struck last Wednesday.
Aid workers said hopes of finding more quake survivors, especially in remote villages, were dim.
Foreign rescue workers continue to arrive but heavy rain and collapsed buildings are hindering their work.
Seeking normality
Several hundred schools were among more than 180,000 buildings destroyed or badly damaged, Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency has said.
“The government has called for classes to resume as soon as possible so they can create some normalcy,” Amson Simbolon, an education officer for UNICEF, told The Associated Press.
Businesses were seen re-opening in the city as work clearing the destruction left by the quake continued.
WEST SUMATRA QUAKES
- First quake struck on Wednesday at 1716 local (1016 GMT) under sea north-west of Padang
- Second quake followed on Thursday at 0852 local
In pictures: Extent of destruction
Aid worker’s diary: Visiting clinic
“The economy is running at 60%. Today students are going to school, and government employees are going to work. It seems we are recovering,” said a Padang’s provincial government officer, Fauzy Bahar.
“Electricity is running at 60%, petrol supply is 100%. But water supply is still down, at 40%,” he estimated as people sought food at local markets.
Planeloads of aid are now landing at Padang airport at regular intervals but the challenge is to get the material to where it is needed most, the BBC’s South East Asia Correspondent Rachel Harvey reported.
The district of Pariman to the north of Padang has been particularly hard hit. It has only one hospital and is overwhelmed, our correspondent says. Operations are being performed in corridors.
“Most of the injured people are orthopaedic cases, so we are buying time to halt this problem,” Dr Jose Rizal Jurnalis, an orthopaedic surgeon, told the BBC.
"We need surgeons, orthopaedic equipment, plates-and-screws, antibiotics, but above all oxygen, and cardiovascular monitors for general anaesthesia.
“It is most important for older patients. Now there is no monitoring equipment available, so we are gambling now,” he said.
Dr Jurnalis was critical of the way the earthquake is being managed, saying the army, doctors and rescue workers all lacked a clear chain of command.
He said local villagers were also angry that it had taken so long for help to arrive.
To make matters worse, torrential rain is falling again, making it even harder to reach communities cut off by landslides.
Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Padang. A second quake of 6.8 struck nearby on Thursday causing panic but no reports of damage or casualties.
Are you in the area Have you been affected by the earthquake Send us your experiences using the form below:
Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.Read the terms and conditions[
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.](“BBC News - Your news, your pictures”)