Origami cranes in Mexico to grant wish for Japanese quake victims

English.news.cn 2011-03-27

A helper lays paper cranes on a table during a origami session called
Senbazuru (A thousand cranes) in favour of disaster victims in Japan in
the Ahondiga cultural centre in Bilbao, Mexico, March 26, 2011. An
ancient Japanese legend states that a crane will grant a wish to the maker
of a thousand origami cranes. The Japanese government on Wednesday
estimated the direct damage from a deadly earthquake and tsunami that
struck the country's northeast this month at as much as 310 billion U.S.
dollars, making it the world's

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Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, March 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Tsunami boat house becomes god`s warning in Aceh`s tourism

Antara News, Sunday, December 26, 2010

A fishing boat moved by the tsunami remains in place, a makeshift
memorial to the victims. (Tarmizy Harva / Reuters)

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The Boat House, an Aceh tsunami monument located in Lampulo Village, Banda Aceh, had become a God`s Warning site for Visit Banda Aceh 2011.

The monument which sits on a house serves proof of the devastating tsunami which struck Aceh on December 26, 2004.

"The tsunami site serves as God`s Warning in tourism as by looking at it people will become aware of God`s unlimited power," Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Saaduddin Jamal said here during inaugural ceremony of the tourism icon and at the same time commemorating the tsunami disaster here on Sunday.

At the monument, there is an inscription in three different languages, Indonesian, Acehnese, and English, which described how the boat saved 59 peoples during the tsunami.

There is also a banner which shows 59 tsunami survivors who climbed on the boat after the tsunami hit the Aceh coast.

The owner of the house, Abasiah ,said he survived after climbing on the boat when it floating toward him.

"I climbed on the boat in which 59 people were already in it," he said.

"When the boat stopped drifting, I noticed that it was perched on top of my house," he said.

The Lampulo Village chief Alta Zaini said residents of Lampulo would ready to make a success of the tourist program by serving and guiding visiting tourists.

Alta also asked every member of the tsunami victim to learn a lesson from the disaster, and free themselves from their grief.

The God`s warning tourism object is also expected to become a place for contemplation and economic improvement of the the local residents.

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No special funeral for Mbah Maridjan: Sultan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 10/27/2010 7:39 PM

Mount Merapi is seen as sacred in the region

Yogyakarta Governor and Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono X said Wednesday there would not be a special funeral for Mbah Maridjan, who died after refusing to abandon his ceremonial post as caretaker of Mount Merapi’s spirits.

Mbah Maridjan

“There are no special funerals for the Sultanate’s servants. His body has been retrieved by his family and will be buried with the other victims [of the eruption],” Hamengkubuwono said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Maridjan, 83, had been entrusted by the highly respected late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX to watch over the volcano's spirits. For years he led ceremonies in which rice and flowers were thrown into the crater to appease its spirits. Maridjan had angered officials in the past by refusing to evacuate during Merapi’s eruptions.

“[His refusal to evacuate] was because of his responsibility as caretaker of Mount Merapi,” Hamengkubuwono said.

Maridjan was among 31 people killed by hot ash spewed by Merapi on Tuesday in Umbulharjo village, Sleman, which is located 4 kilometers from the volcano.

Famous for his convictions about his position, Maridjan was reportedly found in a praying position, kneeling facedown on the floor.

A large crowd of people attended the funeral of Maridjan, Merapi's spiritual keeper

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Merapi's volcanic eruption death toll reach 28

A motorcycle lies covered by volcanic ash at a village that is hit by pyroclastic flows from Mount Merapi eruption in Kaliadem, Yogyakarta, on Wednesday. A volcanic eruption and a tsunami killed scores of people hundreds of miles apart in Indonesia, spasms from the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which spawns disasters from deep within the Earth. AP/Slamet Riyadi

Agency: Strong quake centered off Ternate

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 08/03/2010 8:24 PM

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency confirmed that a magnitude-6.4 quake shook the ocean off Ternate in North Maluku on Tuesday.

Antara news agency reported that the quake struck at about 7 p.m. Jakarta time, as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was visiting the province.

Epicenter of the quake was located 122 kilometers northwest of Ternate at a depth of 10 kilometers below the sea floor.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages resulting from the quake. Local authorities did not inform yet if the temblor was felt at Hotel Bella International, where the President received the Alam Ma Kokuta (guardian of the nature) title from Ternate sultan Sri Sultan Mudaffar Sjah.

Earlier, the US Geological Survey said the powerful earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 and was centered off Sulawesi island.