US on standby to help Indonesia quake victims

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) The US government was standing by to help Indonesian quake victims, if Jakarta request its aid after a powerful earthquake struck the main island of Java, a spokeswoman said today.

The 6.2-magnitude quake, which struck just after dawn on Saturday, was the third major tremor to devastate Indonesia in 18 months and killed more than 3,000 people near the royal city of Yogyakarta.

Thousands more spent the night outside ruined homes or in the grounds of mosques, churches and schools.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon said the U.S.

Defense Department was ready to join any coordinated government assistance effort for Indonesia. But she said the Indonesian government would first have to request aid through normal diplomatic channels.

''Certainly, the United States is on stand-by to offer whatever kind of assistance the Indonesian government may indicate to our State Department that they may need,'' Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said.

The Bush administration dispatched U.S. troops, helicopters and military equipment to Indonesia after the December 2004 tsunami, as a part of a relief effort for the Indian Ocean region that totaled hundreds of millions of dollars.

REUTERS CH KP2339