Quake toll rises, Aussie team on the way

The death toll from the earthquake that rocked Indonesia's main island of Java has risen to at least 5427, the social affairs ministry said.

Meanwhile, the first of a team of Australian disaster and medical experts will arrive in Indonesia on Tuesday to begin work in earthquake-ravaged Yogyakarta.

Countries across the world have been despatching aid for tens of thousands of earthquake victims in Indonesia as the United Nations issued an urgent call for field hospitals, medical supplies and tents.

The 6.3 magnitude quake on Saturday was centred off the Indian Ocean coast near Yogyakarta, the former Javanese royal capital.

But the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said there were 20,000 injured and more than 130,000 homeless, of which 40 per cent were children.

Australia sends aid

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, described the situation as "incredibly severe" and said the latest figures suggested more than 200,000 had been left homeless.

He said the Australian government had committed a large contingent of experts to assist in disaster recovery.

"What we are doing is we have sent a seven-person AusAID team that will be in place in Yogyakarta today to establish a support base for co-ordination, logistics and the medical support presence, and we are sending a health team in there of 27 medical and surgical personnel," he told ABC Radio.

"They are coming from New South Wales and they will be leaving for Indonesia today.

"There will be surgeons, anaesthetists, operating staff, disaster medicine specialists and so on.

"We are making quite a big effort."

International efforts

In Geneva, United Nations and Red Cross agencies met to try to coordinate the huge mobilisation which has drawn contributions from Beijing to Washington, London to Sydney.

Food, medical supplies and makeshift shelters, along with doctors, nurses and technical experts, were pouring toward the stricken region on Indonesia's main island of Java.

But as survivors braced for a third night in the open in pelting rain and the injured spilled out of overcrowded hospitals, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for better coordination.

"We have to improve coordination, both between the government and the regions, from one region and another, and coordination with foreign parties and non-governmental organisations," he told a news conference in Yogyakarta, the main city in the disaster zone.

More than 5,100 people were killed, many thousands more injured and as many as 200,000 left homeless when the 6.3-magnitude quake struck Saturday.

Up to 25,000 houses were reported damaged and 4,000 of them were completely destroyed, the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) said in a statement. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 100,000 people may be homeless.

Volunteers and foreign rescue teams started distributing emergency rations, clean drinking water, tents and hygiene kits and the UN set up a coordination centre at Yogyakarta airport to organise the flow of help.

"Our priorities are very much in health, hygiene and water," UNICEF spokesman John Budd told AFP.

Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for OCHA, which coordinated the Geneva meeting, said the Red Cross was ready to deliver 10,000 tents, but that more would be needed.

"The most urgent needs to be delivered within three days are three field hospitals, with a capacity of 100 beds each, medical supplies mostly for orthopaedic treatment, generators, tents and shelter items," she told AFP.

International agencies have maintained a heavy presence in Indonesia since the December 2004 quake and tsunami left 168,000 dead in Aceh province. That relief effort was sharply criticised after inappropriate supplies were flown in and bottlenecks hampered delivery.

The UN's World Food Programme has begun distributing emergency food rations in the worst-hit districts, enough to feed 20,000 people for seven days, while the International Organization for Migration is handing out 35 tonnes of food, water and medicines.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for $A12.91 million ($US9.79 million).

Five aid flights arrived at Yogyakarta airport late on Sunday and more were en route on Monday.

Britain pledged aid worth four million pounds ($A9.8 million), (5.8 million euros), according to a statement on the website of its government's Department for International Development.

Among other aid promises so far have been five million dollars ($A6.5 million) plus food, medical aid and tents from Saudi Arabia, four million ($A5.27 million) each from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, 3.8 million ($A5.01 million) from the European Union, 2.5 million ($A3.29 million) from the United States and two million ($A2.6 million) from China.

Australia also sent medical teams and supplies. Prime Minister John Howard promised additional aid on top of an initial three million US dollar ($A3.9 million) donation to the International Red Cross.

France despatched doctors and technical experts Sunday and said it was ready to send an emergency hospital and more specialists Monday.

Japan, which has already sent two medical teams and donated some 10 million dollars as well as emergency supplies including tents, generators, blankets and water purifiers, agreed to deploy its military to help.

The United Arab Emirates sent a 39-strong rescue team, while Pakistan sent tents, blankets, food and medicines.

Croatia's government said it had allocated $A235,451 million (140,000 euros), (180,000 dollars) to help the earthquake victims, and Bulgaria said it would donate $A269,048 million (160,000 euros).