Padang Alai four days after the earthquake
Indonesia's health minister estimated the death toll from the 7.6 magnitude quake would reach 3,000 when those listed as 'missing' were included among the dead. The confirmed total now stands at 1,300.
As relief efforts began to concentrate on delivering food, medicine and shelter to survivors, many of whom are living outside in remote villages in the Sumatran jungle, heavy machinery was moved in to clear fallen buildings in the city.
Peter Old, of the Rapid UK search and rescue charity, said: "We are doing final checks before we can declare the rescue phase is over. We think it's the end of the rescue phase.
"There's very little chance of finding people alive. It's the beginning of a ramping down in rescue work."
In Padang city excavators moved over the crumpled remains of the Ambacang hotel, where until Saturday there had been hopes of finding survivors after police received a SMS phone message from someone trapped inside.
Swiss rescue teams with specialist audio equipment also reported hearing tapping sounds on Friday, but no further noises had been heard within the last 24 hours. The hotel was packed with delegates attending an insurance company conference.
"I think the chances of finding survivors are very slim," the team leader of the Newmont Emergency Rescue Team, said at the scene of the ruined Dutch colonial-era hotel.
"We are taking an aggressive approach today to remove about 140 bodies that we believe are buried near the swimming pool." In the city's main Mjamil hospital which was largely destroyed by the quake, survivors were being treated in tents that also served as operating theatres, many languishing in the suffocating humidity, being fanned by relatives.
The sound of wailing drifted from the morgue as families picked up their dead. One group stopped in the car park to nail together a crude coffin for three family members. Others stared at pictures of dreadfully mutilated faces posted on the wall for identification purposes.
A 65-strong British search and rescue team, including search dogs, finally arrived in Padang after long delays due to aircraft technical problems to find that their search skills were no longer required.
They transferred their attention to relief efforts, driving along Sumatra's east coast to assess damage levels and hand out shelter kits and emergency rations to families who were sleeping out under the palms.
For one couple, Zainal, 33 and Samawati, 30, who were sitting in the ruins of their home with their three-year-old daughter Laura, happily accepted a shelter kit from a member of Kent fire brigade.
"Everything was destroyed, the earthquake took everything from us," said Zainal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, "when the rain comes we have no where to keep dry.
"We are very grateful but this is the first help we have received since the disaster, please tell them we need help to rebuild our home." In the remote villages in the hills north of Padang, most of which are accessible only on foot, relief supplies were only just beginning to reach survivors who were desperately in need of shelter as torrential rain began to fall last night.
In Jumanak village, some 200 to 300 wedding guests were buried alive, including the bride according to her 15-year-old brother, Iseh.
"When the landslide came, the party had just finished. I heard a big boom of the avalanche. I ran outside and saw the trees fall down," he said. "I tried to get in front of the house with my brothers. We were so afraid. Landslides started coming from all directions. I just ran."
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The quake also leveled more than 22,000 buildings and damaged over 16,000 others.
It is predicted more than 1,000 people have been killed by the catastrophe. Thousands of people now live in simple makeshift buildings.
Foreign aids in the form of human forces, some equipment and medicine, and domestic assistance such as foods, medicine and tents, have already arrived in the province, officials said here on Saturday.
Earlier, the Indonesian government has said that the country did not really need logistic assistance from foreign countries.
The countries which have sent their aids include Japan, Australia, China's Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Germany, South Korea and Malaysia.
The United Nations, the European Commission, foreign non-governmental organizations have also provided assistance, according to information from the United Nations.
Food, medicine, tents and financial assistance have poured in the province, but they seem to have been distributed up to district administration level and have not reached the survivors.
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