JAKARTA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The impacts from a series of powerful earthquakes that have rocked Indonesia's Sumatra island over the last two days were not as bad as initially predicted, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Thursday.
"Yesterday, we expected massive destructions. But according to the incoming reports, the quake aftermath is not that worse," he told a press conference at his office here.
He dismissed reports that hundreds of buildings were flattened by the quake.
"Only two (automotive) showrooms collapsed in (the West Sumatra capital of) Padang," he said.
Some roads were severely damaged but the Ministry of Public Works will immediately repair them, he said, adding that relief supplies had begun to pour into the quake zone.
