This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8289040.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Inside Sumatra's devastated villages Inside Sumatra's devastated villages
(1 day later)
Many houses are teetering on the edge of landslides cause by the quake By Alastair Leithead Pariaman, western SumatraMany houses are teetering on the edge of landslides cause by the quake By Alastair Leithead Pariaman, western Sumatra
The closer you get to the earthquake's epicentre the worse the damage gets.The closer you get to the earthquake's epicentre the worse the damage gets.
First the road becomes blocked to vehicles. Then even motorbikes cannot get through, and soon you can only walk and clamber over the landslides to reach the communities perhaps hardest hit by this disaster.First the road becomes blocked to vehicles. Then even motorbikes cannot get through, and soon you can only walk and clamber over the landslides to reach the communities perhaps hardest hit by this disaster.
Homes were just swallowed up here as the quake shook the land from the hillsides, tearing down everything, destroying houses and crushing hundreds of people below tonnes of earth.Homes were just swallowed up here as the quake shook the land from the hillsides, tearing down everything, destroying houses and crushing hundreds of people below tonnes of earth.
The size of the landslides are astonishing - massive tears in the jungle where soil and trees have been ripped from the slopes and dumped into the valleys. The size of the landslides is astonishing - massive tears in the jungle where soil and trees have been ripped from the slopes and dumped into the valleys.
Dawianis Ardo is digging. Others are helping him - smashing concrete beams with the back of an axe, pulling at debris with wire cable and shifting bucket-loads of soil from the hole. Dawianis Ardo is digging. Others are helping him - smashing concrete beams with the back of an axe, pulling at debris with wire cables and shifting bucket-loads of soil from the hole.
The patch of earth, trees and concrete is what is left of three homes. One was empty, but the two crushed into each other and buried with earth from the mountain which slipped off into the valley were not. The patch of earth, trees and concrete is what is left of three homes. One was empty, but the two crushed into each other and buried with earth from the mountain were not.
Inside were nine adults and seven children - some of them playing marbles just outside the house when the earthquake struck.Inside were nine adults and seven children - some of them playing marbles just outside the house when the earthquake struck.
"We found two bodies yesterday - they had been crushed to death - we expect to find the other 14 bodies today," he said."We found two bodies yesterday - they had been crushed to death - we expect to find the other 14 bodies today," he said.
They were his cousins.They were his cousins.
"If we don't find them today I will dig for another five days - that will be a week - and then I will leave them to God.""If we don't find them today I will dig for another five days - that will be a week - and then I will leave them to God."
Crushed to deathCrushed to death
A path has been trodden across the face of the landslide where the road used to be and people were carefully making their way across.A path has been trodden across the face of the landslide where the road used to be and people were carefully making their way across.
I just sat here and prayed ZaimarEarthquake survivorI just sat here and prayed ZaimarEarthquake survivor
The situation just worsened further along the track - more houses flattened, more landslides scarring the hillside and wider cracks in the road.The situation just worsened further along the track - more houses flattened, more landslides scarring the hillside and wider cracks in the road.
Zaimar sat outside her collapsed home as the men dug at the crushed wooden beams to big out their food supplies and possessions. Zaimar sat outside her collapsed home as the men dug at the crushed wooden beams to get out their food supplies and possessions.
She described what it was like when the quake hit, kneeling down and showing us how she sat to stop herself falling as the shockwave threw everything and everybody around.She described what it was like when the quake hit, kneeling down and showing us how she sat to stop herself falling as the shockwave threw everything and everybody around.
She began to cry - to sob - as she remembered those terrifying moments when she was convinced the world was going to end.She began to cry - to sob - as she remembered those terrifying moments when she was convinced the world was going to end.
"I just sat here and prayed," she said, still crying uncontrollably."I just sat here and prayed," she said, still crying uncontrollably.
Her family were all unhurt, but the shock has affected her deeply and her neighbours lost relatives in the rubble.Her family were all unhurt, but the shock has affected her deeply and her neighbours lost relatives in the rubble.
Waiting for helpWaiting for help
At another landslide an ornately tiled porch stands now like a platform overlooking the valley below.At another landslide an ornately tiled porch stands now like a platform overlooking the valley below.
The home which was behind it is crushed and buried, along with it a family of 10 people. The home which was behind it is crushed and buried, along with a family of 10 people.
Further along, the route is blocked by a house teetering on the edge of another gaping scar - the only way forward to the villages and communities ahead is through someone's front room.Further along, the route is blocked by a house teetering on the edge of another gaping scar - the only way forward to the villages and communities ahead is through someone's front room.
One village is packed with people - all asking when the aid will come. A police helicopter circled overhead suggesting they have not been forgotten about. One village is packed with people - all asking when the aid will come. A police helicopter circled overhead, suggesting they have not been forgotten about.
But they feel abandoned and alone. They have rice and basic supplies, but with no electricity and a road it will take many weeks to repair, they are afraid of their new-found isolation, hoping help will come to them soon.But they feel abandoned and alone. They have rice and basic supplies, but with no electricity and a road it will take many weeks to repair, they are afraid of their new-found isolation, hoping help will come to them soon.
Three-thousand dead is what the government has estimated.Three-thousand dead is what the government has estimated.
Here amid the destroyed homes, with so many stories of relatives being buried alive, it seems as though it could be even more.Here amid the destroyed homes, with so many stories of relatives being buried alive, it seems as though it could be even more.