Sumatra Volcano Adds to Quake Fear

Mr Ridwan has treated in recent weeks an increasing number of patients suffering from what he calls 'inner heat'. 'They are afraid and they are looking for calm,' he told The Observer. 'I talk their problems through and pass on to them my inner strength.'

Mr Ridwan is one of the many paranormals the people of Padang, the largest city on the earthquake-ravaged west coast of Sumatra, are consulting in droves to try to find out when the next natural disaster will strike.

'We cannot predict such things exactly, because the earth cannot be controlled,' Mr Ridwan said. 'I can move the wind and the sea, but not the earth. However, before the last two big earthquakes I did get a very strange feeling inside me and I warned people to run to higher ground.'

The fear that is gripping this low-lying city of 1.2 million residents is understandable. Since the Boxing Day earthquake off the northern tip of Sumatra that triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami and killed about 160,000 in Aceh province there have been thousands of aftershocks.

And the tremors have been getting closer to Padang, which lies halfway down Sumatra. Last Sunday the city was rocked by a series of quakes that lasted until the early hours of Monday morning, triggering mass panic as people fled to the hills.

'We are all aware that something is not right,' said one woman, who asked not to be named. 'My dog has started attacking its puppies and I'm no longer hearing the frogs that used to croak in the back garden. Such signs cannot be ignored.'

Alarming people further is that the tectonic movement has generated a massive increase in activity in several of the volcanoes across Sumatra and Java, including Mount Talang, 40 miles east of Padang. At about 4am on Tuesday it blew its top, spewing ash and dust more than half a mile into the air and on to villages several miles away. Fearing a larger eruption, more than 30,000 people fled.

Most of the refugees in this strongly Islamic part of Indonesia have no doubts as to the cause of the disasters. 'It's a test from Allah,' said Haji Herr Maini as he walked back to his tent in Kubang Nan Duo village following Friday prayers. 'The imam told us this was God venting his anger on us. God wants us to correct our numerous faults, to get closer to him.'

Government officials have no time for such spiritual justifications. 'This is the worst crisis in the 10 years I have been here, but it is clear this is just a natural phenomenon,' said Gamawan Fauzi, head of the district administration around Mount Talang. It is natural that people are worried.' But for some such rationality is insufficient. 'Sure, I listen to the radio, but they can't tell me when there's going to be a tsunami. That's why I come here, I want to know in advance,' said Alex as he waited to see Mr Ridwan.