Powerful earthquakes and tsunami force 62,300 people to evacuate (Source: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – The international community continued to providerelief aid for Indonesia whose Central Sulawesi province was hardly hit bystrong earthquakes and tsunami ten days ago.
As of October 6 afternoon, the death toll by the earthquakesand subsequent tsunami climbed to 1,649, while about 5,000 others remainedunaccounted for, and 2,549 injured. Nearly 67,000 houses were damaged, and over62,300 people were forced to be evacuated.
Indonesia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abdurrahman MohammadFachir said that to date, 22 nations have committed to supporting victims.Indonesia has also allowed planes of 18 countries to transport relief.
Relief goods from Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Republicof Korea, Australia and New Zealand arrived in Palu city after two days awaitingin Balikpapan.
Japan sent 51 disaster management officials and 8 tonnes ofrelief goods to help Indonesia overcome the disaster consequences. In addition,the Japan International Cooperation Agency provided 500 tents, 20,000 waterpurifiers and 80 generators for Indonesia, while 20 Japanese companiescommitted aid worth 330,000 USD to for the victims.
The United Kingdom also vowed to provide assistance worth7.5 million USD, including mineral water, tents, sanitary equipment, and solarlamps, for Indonesia.
Fachir said that around 16.3 million USD was also committedto Indonesia, including 10 million USD from Venezuela, 1.5 million EUR (1.7million USD) from the European Union, 200,000 USD from China, 100,000 USD fromVietnam and 100,000 USD from Laos.
Central Sulawesi was ravaged by two devastating quakesmeasuring 6.1 and 7.5 on the Richter scale on September 28. The second wasfollowed by giant tsunami waves on the afternoon of the same day, destroyingthousands of houses and roads.
Indonesia is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcaniceruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire",an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest ofSulawesi.
In December 2004, a massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake off thenorthern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the IndianOcean countries, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries, including more than168,000 in Indonesia. –VNA
VNA
