Indonesia marks one year since devastating twin disasters

Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia on September 28 marked one year since a devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami smashed the city of Palu, killing more than 4,000 people.

A mass prayer is scheduled later on the day to remember the victims of the 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami that razed the coastal city on Sulawesi island last September.

The force of the impact saw entire neighbourhoods levelled by liquefaction – a process where the ground starts behaving like a liquid and swallows up the earth like quicksand.

According to the Red Cross, about 4,300 people were killed and went missing after the twin disasters while nearly 60,000 people are still living in temporary accommodation after their homes were destroyed.

The disasters also destroyed fishing boats, shops and irrigation systems, robbing locals of their incomes.

Hundreds of damaged schools have not been repaired as they are so badly affected that they remain too dangerous to use, forcing children to learn in temporary classrooms where they have to attend in shifts due to a lack of space, according to the Save the Children.

The World Bank has offered the country up to 1 billion USD in loans to help rebuild Palu city.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and large portion of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Last year, the country suffered from 11,600 earthquakes./.