Vietnam offers aid to victims of quakes, tsunami in Indonesia

Palu city in Central Sulawesi province after the earthquakes and tsunami (Photo: VNA)

Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province was ravaged by two quakes measuring 6.1 and 7.5 on the Richter scale on September 28. A 6m tsunami hit the shores after the second quake struck the area in the afternoon of the same day.

The death toll following the disaster in Palu city and Donggala town has now climbed to 1,249 and may continue rising. As many as 48,000 people have been evacuated.

Spokesman of the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on October 2 that 799 people have been injured during the disaster while at least 152 people are still buried under debris or building wreckage

Currently, Indonesian authorised agencies are providing food and necessities to Sulawesi, while also stepping up rescue activities. 

No Vietnamese has been reported dead or missing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also confirmed that 10 Vietnamese students studying at Tadulako University in Palu city are safe.

Indonesia is prone to quake as it sits on a vulnerable quake-affected area called the Pacific Ring of Fire.

A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.

In December 2004, a massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean countries, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 168,000 in Indonesia./.

VNA