The Indonesian government said Saturday that it takes one month to restore infrastructure on the Nias Island, which was seriously damaged in Monday's massive earthquake.
"Many installations and infrastructure have been destroyed. It will take about one month to normalize them," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a news conference here after an inspection of the island.
However, it will take about three months to restore the entire power system, he said.
Kalla also promised to immediately provide logistics and clean water to the quake-affected people.
"Within the next one or two days the supply of clean water will be sufficient for the people," he said, adding that five tank trucks will provide water for people in the city, where the water treatment facilities were damaged by the disaster.
The vice president asked local authorities to speed up distribution of rice to the survivors as the local market, the main food source, was devastated in the quake.
"The rice, no matter how much the number needed, we will provide it, we will use two helicopters to carry the aid, we will increase trucks and small ships from Sibolga," he said.
Sibolga, a port city 210 km away from the Nias Island, is the only transit point for aid.
Kalla said the government will add five ships to carry aid to Nias and intensify the frequency of ship schedule.
The vice president also promised that the Indonesian government will provide funds to assist people in rebuilding their houses.
An earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter Scale struck off Indonesia's northwestern province of Sumatra on Monday, leaving massive damage on the Nias Island.
The local government announced Saturday that 514 people were confirmed dead on the Nias Island while 670 others were seriously injured. The United Nations estimated over 1,000 people were killed on the island.