US sends aid to help Indonesia quake victims

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) The Bush administration said the United States has sent 2.5 million dollars in aid to Indonesia after a powerful earthquake struck the main island of Java earlier in the day.

The 6.2-magnitude quake, which struck just after dawn yesterday, 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 on the grounds of mosques, churches and schools. Many bodies remained buried under rubble as authorities struggled to get aid into the region.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said several representatives from the US Agency for International Development, the country's top agency for foreign assistance, have been sent to Yogyakarta and the surrounding area to determine how the 2.5 million dollars in aid can be used.

''Through financial and material support, the United States is assisting with recovery efforts in coordination with Indonesian authorities, and we stand prepared to provide additional assistance as needed,'' President George W Bush said in a statement.

The Bush administration previously said it would earmark 500,000 dollars for relief from the temblor. ''We have augmented our initial aid assessment to Indonesia,'' the State Department said in a statement. ''The President has now authorized 2.5 million dollars to aid earthquake victims,'' it said..

The administration dispatched US 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 SHB GC0925