Massive Aid Effort Underway for Survivors of Indonesia Quake-Tsunami
Indonesian and Japanese military personnel unload relief aid from a Japan Air Force cargo plane at the Mutiara Sis Al-Jufri airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Oct. 6, 2018.
GENEVA —
International aid is pouring into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for tens of thousands of earthquake and tsunami survivors. Three weeks after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck, the government estimates more than 87,000 people remain homeless and thousands more are living in poor, makeshift settlements.
Aid agencies are racing against time to get relief to survivors before the monsoon season sets in next month. The Sulawesi disaster is estimated to have killed more than 2,000 people, with at least 680 still missing. The government says around 68,000 houses are damaged.
The U.N. refugee agency delivered 435 emergency tents Friday for distribution to families made homeless by the earthquake and tsunami. The agency says that will provide shelter to around 6,500 of the most vulnerable. It says more emergency tents, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and solar lamps will be delivered in the coming weeks.
UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley says aid workers went to Palu, the epicenter of the quake in central Sulawesi, this past week to coordinate relief activities with local government officials.
Villagers affected by the earthquake wave after an Indonesian military helicopter dropped aid in Lindu village south of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Oct. 7, 2018.
“Our staff described the effects of the earthquake and tsunami as beyond imagination and devastating. Communities have seen their houses, schools and hospitals reduced to rubble. Entire villages have been decimated…. Many people have not only lost their homes, but the land on which [they] once stood,” said he.
Yaxley says many survivors are too traumatized to face returning to what is left of their homes.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is providing 215 tons of relief items, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets and safe drinking water to the survivors. The Indonesian Red Cross will distribute the aid to 160,000 people affected by the disaster.
World Food Program staff is helping the Indonesian government expedite, manage, store and distribute to the survivors on Sulawesi the massive quantities of aid arriving at the airport of Balikpapan on the neighboring island of Borneo.
Earthquake, Tsunami Strike Sulawesi Island, Indonesia
1/22The ruins of cars are seen after a tsunami hit in Palu, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
2/22Search and rescue workers help rescue a person trapped in rubble following an earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 30, 2018.
3/22An aerial view of the city of Palu after an earthquake hit Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
4/22A general view of Taman Ria's beach, which was hit by a tsunami after a quake in West Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 30, 2018.
5/22An aerial view shows a bridge damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
6/22The damage after an earthquake is seen in Palu, Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
7/22Dead bodies are seen, Sept. 29, 2018, on a street after earthquake hit in Palu, Indonesia.
8/22Damage from an earthquake and tsunami can be seen in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
9/22Residents stand in front of a damaged shopping mall after an earthquake hit Palu, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
10/22A man surveys the damage caused by earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia,, Sept. 29, 2018.
11/22Residents carry the body of a tsunami victim in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia,, Sept. 29, 2018.
12/22A man stands amid the damage caused by a tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
13/22Residents carry a body bag containing the body of a tsunami victim in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
14/22Some of the wreckage left in Donggala, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, Sept. 28, 2018. (BNPB photo)
15/22Heavy damage to a shopping center is seen following an earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 28, 2018, in this handout photo made available by Antara Foto.
16/22Earthquake-injured patients are treated at a makeshift hospital in Poso, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
17/22A man carries the body of a child who was killed in the tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia,, Sept. 29, 2018.
18/22A paramedic gives treatment to an earthquake survivor outside a hospital in Donggala, Indonesia, Sulawesi Island, Sept. 28, 2018.
19/22 Indonesian soldiers walk to a Hercules military plane heading to Palu at Halim Perdanakusuma military base in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
20/22Earthquake survivors rest on beds outside a hospital in Palu, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Sept. 29, 2018.
21/22 The damage after an earthquake is seen in Palu, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, Sept. 30, 2018, in this still image taken from aerial drone video.
22/22An aerial view of the Baiturrahman mosque, which was hit by a tsunami after a quake in West Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sept. 30, 2018.
