Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Indonesia mourns as tsunami death toll climbs (Neighbours including…
Indonesia mourns as tsunami death toll climbs
Indonesia
PALU
The toll from an earthquake and tsunami
soared
to 832 confirmed dead
on Sunday
with authorities
fearing
the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help.
Dozens of people
were reported
to be trapped in the rubble
on Sulawesi island
and a mall in the city of Palu
which was hit by waves
as high as six metres following the 7.5-magnitude earthquake
3 more items...
of several hotels
Of particular concern is Donggala
which has been cut off from communications since
since Friday are
a region of 300,000 people north of Palu
close to the epicentre of the quake
two other districts
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho
a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency
told a news conference.
"We haven't received reports from the three other areas. Communication is still down, power is still out. We don't know for sure what the impact is,"
Most of the confirmed deaths
were in Palu itself
and authorities
are bracing for the toll to climb as connections with
with outlying areas are restored.
Along with Palu
1,500km northeast of Jakarta
these districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.
official said.
Palu is at the head of a bay, about 10 km long and 2 km wide, which had "amplified" the wave as it was funnelled towards the city, a geophysics agency
President Joko Widodo
tweeted
late on Sunday.
"Grieve for the people of Central Sulawesi, we all grieve together,"
Earlier
visited a housing complex flattened when the quake liquefied the soil it stood on
visited a housing complex flattened when the quake liquefied the soil it stood on
and called for patience.
said
"I know there are many problems that need to be solved in a short time, including communications,"
The ruins would be rebuilt
as aftershocks rattled the region 48 hours after the quake.
Social worker Lian Gogali
tweeted
from the area that several villages
on the west coast of Sulawesi
were in desperate need of food
medicine and shelter and that road access was still limited.
PLEDGE TO REBUILD
Nugroho said.
Five foreign nationals
three French
one South Korean
one Malaysian
in the quake and swept away by the tsunami.
The 832 dead included people crushed
:Meanwhile
according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page.
the Thai embassy in Jakarta
is examining ways to help Thai nationals
who may have been affected by the disaster
It earlier announced
that 31 Thais in Palu were safe - 28 students and three company employees.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said
the death toll could rise into the thousands
Internal Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo
asked about reports of looting on social media
said he had ordered
authorities to help people get food and drink and businesses would be compensated. One video posted on YouTube showed people grabbing boxes of supplies from a truck.
Television pictures
showed scores of residents shouting
“We're hungry, we need food"
as soldiers distributed rations from a truck in one neighborhood
while footage from elsewhere showed people making off with clothes and other items from a wrecked mall.
State logistics agency chief Budi Waseso said
it was preparing to send hundreds of tonnes of government rice stocks to Central Sulawesi areas affected by the disaster.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati
said
the government had allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million; more than 1.2 billion baht) for disaster recovery,
media reported.
QUESTIONS ABOUT WARNINGS
Indonesia
which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire
is all too familiar with deadly earthquakes and tsunamis
In 2004
a quake off Sumatra island
triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean
killing 226,000 people
including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
in 13 countries
Questions are sure to be asked
why warning systems set up after that disaster appear to have failed on Friday.
Nugroho
bemoaning a fall in funding
said
no tsunami buoys, one type of instrument used to detect the waves, in Indonesia had been operating since 2012.
The meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG
issued
a tsunami warning after the quake
but lifted it 34 minutes later,
drawing criticism it had been too hasty
But officials estimated the waves had hit while the warning was in force.
when the water surged.
Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on Palu's beach
A disaster official
1 more item...
said its closest tidal gauge sensor, about 200km from Palu, had only recorded an "insignificant" 6cm (2.5 inches) wave.
Video on social media
showed water bearing
whirls of debris rushing in as people shouted in alarm and scattered.
Neighbours including
Australia
Thailand
China
Pope Francis
offered help
speaking to thousands in St. Peter's Square
said he was praying for the victims.
authorities said.
alu's airport was damaged in the quake, but had reopened for limited commercial flights