Tsunami turnabout

Disaster | Indonesian islanders who escaped December's disaster are still shaking from spring quakes | Priya Abraham

Simeulue and Nias may be the postcard ideal of paradise on earth with their white-sand beaches and coconut palms, but locals have found life on these Indonesian islands hellish lately. Since an earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale hit the area in late March, thousands continue to flee aftershocks and endure days increasingly marked by dangerous instability.

Geological fits make reconstruction tough in a region already battered by December’s tsunami. Civil engineer Charlie Hickey landed on Simeulue in mid-February thinking his only task would be to help rebuild the island. Instead the Irishman soon found himself in emergency mode.

The earthquake late the night of March 28 sent him bolting out of bed and staggering down the corridor of his house as the walls and floors wobbled. He emerged with only a few scrapes but found basic necessities like food and water swiftly became more crucial than his original mission of reconstructing bridges and livelihoods. “The earthquake upset a lot of things,” said Mr. Hickey, a relief worker with the aid group Concern Worldwide. “Not just physically, but in terms of morale.”