Indonesian President Joko Widodo (second, right) visits the quake-hit Palu city on September 30 (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in visited Palu city on Sulawesi island, the hardest hit by the powerful earthquake and tsunami, on September 30.
Addressing troops deployed to Sulawesi island, President Widodo called on relevant forces to be ready to work day and night and to finish work relating to evacuation and rescue.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on September 30 that the death toll from the September 28 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province climbed to 832, nearly double the figure announced earlier.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the toll could rise into the thousands.
Almost those killed in the natural disaster were in Palu city.
The Indonesian government has allocated 560 billion rupiah (37.58 million USD) for disaster recovery.
Suwelasi was ravaged by two quakes measuring 6.1 and 7.5 on the Richter scale on September 28. A tsunami happened after the second quake hit the area in the afternoon of the same day.
A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2004, a big earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 168,000 in Indonesia.-VNA
VNA
