The victims of an earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are getting an “unusual” amount of help from not only the Indonesian government, but from nearby Singapore and Malaysia, an Iowa State student and native of Sumatra Island said.

“I feel very sorry for the community in that area,” ISU senior Andrew Lourits said. The quake, which registered a seven on the Richter Scale, struck before dawn on Saturday, killing at least 100 people and injuring many others. “Fortunately, our family did not lose anyone,” Lourits said.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in Padang, a city of close to 1 million people. At least 10,000 homes and buildings were destroyed in the quake. Lourits’ family moved from Padang in 1979 to another Indonesian island. Lourits’ mother called friends in Sumatra to find out the extent of the damages.

“It’s an unusual thing, but the city has good support to help the victims,” Lourits said. He said normally, it would take 24 to 48 hours to receive any type of aid. But, Lourits said, because the nearby countries of Singapore and Malaysia also felt the quake, there was a quick response.

“It is like when Des Moines was flooded,” Lourits said. Lourits compared the aid Sumatra is receiving with the thousands of people who helped during the flood of 1993. “The Malaysian government would be embarrassed” to not help quake victims.

He said ISU’s Indonesian students have received a great deal of support from the ISU community. Lourits had just returned from an International Student Council meeting, where the ISU’s InterFraternity Council sent a card to express its sympathy for the Indonesian students on the ISC.