JAKARTA, Indonesia and WESTPORT, Conn. (Oct. 1, 2009) — Save the Children dispatched an assessment team to the Padang area today less than 24 hours after a devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck this West Sumatran region on Wednesday evening, Sept. 30. Follow this story and others on Twitter

The Save the Children team is evaluating the danger to children and organizing to help them through the current crisis. Aftershocks continue to shake this densely populated coastal area, further imperiling children’s lives. Save the Children is also rushing badly needed relief materials to the scene to help ease the suffering of children and their families.

A second 6.8 magnitude quake hit western Sumatra on Thursday morning, Sumatra time, just hours after the first earthquake struck, further intensifying the suffering. So far, unofficial estimates are that 1,100 people are dead and thousands more injured; the collapsed homes and buildings may well cover hundreds more. Overall, the disaster has affected over a million people, more than half of whom are children.

"The second major earthquake struck when children were in school, and we fear that many are injured or separated from their families," said Mark Fritzler, Save the Children’s country director in Indonesia. "Save the Children will work to protect vulnerable and separated children as well as provide humanitarian assistance to help families through the immediate and critical hours of this crisis."

According to early reports, the quake destroyed homes and buildings, cut lines of communications electricity, and destroyed bridges in and around Padang City, home to 900,000 people.

"This is an ongoing crisis that every day threatens the health and well-being of children, especially the youngest and smallest," said Ned Olney, Save the Children’s vice president for global humanitarian relief. “We are moving quickly to ensure than infants and children — as well as their parents — get the help they need as quickly as possible.” Save the Children is currently providing relief to survivors of a magnitude-7 earthquake that struck Western Java, Indonesia, last month. The agency’s education, health and livelihoods programs for children and families living in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami continue.

Save the Children has been working in Indonesia for more than three decades.

Save the Children is the leading independent organization that creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 29 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.