Updated 6.30pm, 5th October, 2009

DAVID ADAMS

Hopes are fading that any more suvivors will be found in the rubble of buildings in the Indonesia port city of Padang, five days after a couple of powerful earthquakes shook the region.

The death toll from the earthquakes - the strongest of which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale - has now topped 1,100 but Indonesian officials fear it could go as high as 3,000. Tens of thousands now remain homeless with estimates that as many as 20,000 buildings have been damaged in the quake.

In the Pacific region, meanwhile, the remoteness of the some of the affected communities has been hampering aid efforts after an 8.3 magnitude earthquake which struck in the South Pacific Ocean off the coast of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga and sent a tsunami of up to 1.7 metres crashing into the island nations.

The death toll in the three nations now stands at 176, including five Australians.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, the death toll in the aftermath of recent typhoons stands at more than 260 while more 100 have been reported as killed in Vietnam and at least 11 have been killed in nearby Cambodia.

Australian aid agencies are among those who are already responding to the crisis including the Red Cross, World Vision, Oxfam and Act for Peace, the National Council of Churches in Australia's international aid agency.

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said the cost of rebuilding communities would stretch into the tens of millions of dollars, adding that the rising number of natural disasters in the Asia region - from less than 50 to around 200 a year - was putting increased pressure on the ability of aid and relief agencies and local communities.

"Natural disasters can wipe out decades of development gains in minutes," he said.

Earlier, Alistair Gee, executive director of Act for Peace, said the scale of devastation to homes, livelihoods and community infrastructure will require a "wide-scale relief effort".

"The role of the churches in supporting communities and this recovery effort is substantial and Act for Peace needs generous support from the Australian public to help families rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”

The Australian Red Cross has launched an appeal for Pacific communities affected by earthquake and tsunami.  Michael Raper, director of services and international operations, said earlier this week that Red Cross staff and volunteers on the gound in Samoan and Tongan communities had "never seen anything like this" with 58 homes destroyed in one village alone.

"Local services are overwhelmed and need our urgent assistance," he said.

Oxfam aid worker Janna Hamilton was in Samoa where she was reported on Friday, 2nd October, as saying people were still staying away from devastated villages.

"They’re still in shock and a lot are not ready to start again,” she said. “Many survivors are wearing face masks due to the strong smell of dead fish and washed up vegetation lying all over the roads and in the remnants of houses.”

Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), says the heart-breaking loss of life, casualities and destruction is a reminder that the Asia Pacific region is the world's "disaster hot spot" and called for greater investment for disaster preparedness.

“A person living in Asia Pacific is four times more likely to be affected by natural disasters than someone living in Africa and 25 times more likely than someone living in Europe or North America," said Ms Heyzer.

TO DONATE:

Act for Peace - Call 1800 025 101 or see www.actforpeace.org.au/givenow

Adventist Development and Relief Agency - Call 1800 242 372 or see www.adra.org.au

Australian Red Cross - Call 1800 811 700 or see www.redcross.org.au

Australian Relief and Mercy Services - Call (03) 9888 4537 or see www.arms.org.au

Care Australia - Call 1800 020 046 or see www.careaustralia.org.au

Caritas Australia - Call 1800 024 413 or see www.caritas.org.au

Opportunity International Australia - Call 1800 812 164 or see www.opportunity.org.au

Oxfam Australia - Call 1800 088 110 or see www.oxfam.org.au

Plan International Australia - Call 13 7526 or see www.plan.org.au

Samaritan's Purse - See www.samaritanspurse.org.au.

Save the Children Australia - Call 1800 760 011 or see www.savethechildren.org.au

Uniting World - Call (02) 8267 4267 or see www.unitingworld.org.au

World Vision Australia - Call 13 32 40 or see www.worldvision.com.au