Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Survivors of the earthquake that devastated the Indonesian city of Padang six days ago are putting the pieces of their shattered lives back together after emergency teams ended rescue attempts there.

“My husband and I are very lucky to be alive,” said Veronica Sriliani, a 55-year-old ice cream manufacturer who recovered from breast cancer three years ago. “I survived cancer so I will survive this,” she said, picking through rubble outside her flattened warehouse.

Indonesian rescuers yesterday stopped searching for survivors in Padang, which was devastated by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake. The effort shifted to surrounding Sumatran villages hit by quake-triggered mudslides.

The Sept. 30 temblor has left at least 704 people dead, with 295 people still listed as missing, according to the National Disaster Management Agency’s Web site. More than 190,000 houses were damaged, 100,000 of them heavily.

Still, Sriliani has no plan to leave, even though much of her house was destroyed when the wall of a neighboring house fell on the roof, also crushing her warehouse.

“We would like to stay because my family has been running this business for more than two generations,” she said, as her 58-year-old husband shoveled away rubble from the path to their store.

No Life Signs

Rescuers from 19 countries have studied 31 rubble points in Padang and concluded that there were no signs of life, the disaster agency said.

The number of international rescuers is sufficient, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters in Jakarta today.

“There is a need to shift the relief efforts to medical treatment and move aid from the city to the villages,” Wirajuda said. “International support has been quite huge since day two. We are completing a rehabilitation and reconstruction plan that will detail the necessities that we will request from the international community.”

Indonesia wants international aid groups to help rebuild public facilities such as hospitals and schools, the minister said. The Indonesian government is also thinking about appointing “a focal point” institution to handle relief efforts in Padang. “It’s clear that we need better coordination,” Wirajuda said.

International Aid

More than 60 international aid agencies and 26 countries have delivered aid to the disaster zone, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said.

People are beginning to get back on their feet in the city, Syamsul Ma’arif, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, said in Jakarta late yesterday.

“The indicators are 80 percent of electricity is back, clean water can be accessed by 60 percent of Padang and we will fill the rest of the water tanks,” he said. “Economic life has apparently returned.”

Hundreds of people died in Padang when they were buried under collapsed buildings, hotels and schools, said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the National Search and Rescue Agency.

The quake may have been less deadly in villages, where there are fewer large masonry buildings and fewer heavy objects to fall in public places, Harce Winerungan, a spokesman at the disaster agency, said in a phone interview in Jakarta. The death toll may exceed 1,000, said Priyadi Kardono, the agency’s main spokesman.

4,000 Volunteers

Governments around the world have provided money and aid such as medicine, tents, food and search teams with dogs to help sniff out survivors beneath rubble. At least 35 international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations are helping victims in Padang, the disaster agency said. About 4,000 volunteers are working in the city, which has a population of more than 800,000 and is the capital of West Sumatra province.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates authorized $7 million in relief operations for Indonesia and the U.S. Pacific Command has sent a rapid-response field hospital to Padang, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington. Three U.S. ships are en route to help relief efforts.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is also transporting about 45 metric tons of emergency relief supplies to Padang, Kelly said.

In addition to providing food, water and shelter, aid agencies are trying to ease the psychological trauma.

Fearful Children

“Children are quite scared to be inside their houses,” Angela Kearney, the United Nations Children’s Fund representative in Indonesia, said in Padang yesterday. “They remember the shaking and some of the aftershocks. So it takes some time to make them feel safe again.”

Unicef is bringing in toys and equipment such as soccer balls and jump ropes, Kearney said.

Indonesia wants foreign aid workers to “not bunch up in Padang, but fan out to villages outside the city that haven’t been visited,” Winerungan of the disaster agency said.

Roads from Padang to surrounding areas that were blocked by landslides have been cleared, while they may be difficult to pass because of cracks, the Public Works Ministry said on its Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Soraya Permatasari in Padang at soraya@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 6, 2009 04:06 EDT