Earthquake Rocks Indonesia
A strong undersea earthquake of a magnitude of 6.7, at a depth of 45 kilometres, has rocked the eastern province of Maluku, scaring the residents. An initial tsunami warning was later lifted. Sulawesi Island in the east is being swamped by torrential rain and floods, with at least 60 dead so far.
Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes in the central and southern parts of Sulawesi province, where many villages have been completely damaged. The authorities have deployed helicopters loaded with food and drinking water and have sent health teams with medicine to the affected areas, but they said continuous rain and floods had hindered their access. Aswi Nugroho from the Indonesian Red Cross said that:"most of the relief agencies had been finding it difficult to transport deliveries because of blocked roads and bridges." Buried alive According to local officials, at least 40 people are believed to be buried alive in the central part of the province but the bad weather is hobbling efforts to rescue them. The situation is equally bad in the north-eastern part of the province, where days of heavy downpour have caused floods up to three metres high, submerging hundreds of homes and leaving thousands of people stranded. Deadly landslides occur frequently in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous regions and near fertile flood plains close to rivers. Experts, however, blame illegal logging and deforestation for making the soil loose and causing landslides. Precaution measures "How can we prepare ourselves for such a disaster?" is the question on Aswi Nugroho's lips. "How can we prepare ourselves so that the impact of such disasters is reduced?" For many, the answer lies clearly in fighting global warming and climate change, which are held responsible for the changing weather conditions. Peter Rees, the Red Cross' Head of Disaster Response, told an Australian radio station, the number of natural disasters in the world has tripled in recent years as a result. No increase in geo-physical disasters "Between 2004 and 2006, there was an increase of catastrophe cases from 278 to 481, including 137 floods. And this year there have already been 75 flood catastrophes. And it's clearly linked to the weather," said Rees. He explained that there had been no increase in geo-physical disasters such as earthquakes or volcano eruptions but a clear increase in weather-related catastrophes. Farmers in Central Sulawesi, which is one of Indonesia's key cocoa growing areas, are worried about their crop. Many fear that the heavy rains and floods will have an adverse effect on this year’s production, leading to a potential fall of about 10 percent of the total cocoa output.
Indonesia
Indonesia Indonesia_national_football_team A1_Team_Indonesia Indonesia_national_badminton_team Indonesian_cuisine Football_Association_of_Indonesia Indonesia_at_the_2005_Southeast_Asian_Games Indonesia_Fed_Cup_team Indonesian_language Indonesia_Open_(badminton) Indonesian_Navy Football_in_Indonesia Dutch_East_Indies Energy_in_Indonesia Elections_in_Indonesia Indonesia_national_under-19_football_team
Maluku
Maluku_(province) Maluku_Islands Maluku,_Kinshasa 2017_Liga_3_Maluku 2014_Liga_Nusantara_Maluku Maluku_sectarian_conflict
Sulawesi Island
Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi Celebic_languages 2008_Sulawesi_earthquake South_Peninsula,_Sulawesi List_of_rivers_of_Sulawesi Celebes_Sea Trans-Sulawesi_Railway
Aswi Nugroho
Indonesian Red Cross
Indonesian_Red_Cross_Society
Aswi Nugroho
Peter Rees
Peter_Rees,_Baron_Rees Peter_Rees_(producer) Peter_Rees_(footballer)
Red Cross
International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement American_Red_Cross International_Committee_of_the_Red_Cross British_Red_Cross Australian_Red_Cross International_Federation_of_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Societies Canadian_Red_Cross Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement German_Red_Cross Redd_Kross Red_Cross_(EP) Philippine_Red_Cross New_Zealand_Red_Cross Saint_George's_Cross List_of_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Societies Indian_Red_Cross_Society
Head of Disaster Response
Australian
2004
2006
Rees
Rees,_Germany Rees Tony_Rees Dai_Rees Rees_ministry Alan_Rees_(racing_driver) Rice_Rees Nathan_Rees Jason_Rees_(footballer) John_Rees_(civil_servant) Merlyn_Rees Hundred_of_Rees Matthew_Rees Tudor_Rees Rees_(disambiguation) Doug_Rees
Central Sulawesi
Central_Sulawesi 2017_Liga_3_Central_Sulawesi
Indonesia
Indonesia
slot::in slot::keyword topic::none type::entity type::gpe type::gpe0 type::location
Maluku
Maluku_(province)
slot::keyword topic::none type::entity type::gpe type::gpe1 type::location
Sulawesi
slot::keyword topic::none type::entity type::gpe type::gpe1 type::location
Peter Rees
gender::male iptc::11000000 topic::politics type::entity type::person type::politics_per
Sulawesi Island
Sulawesi
type::entity type::island type::location
Aswi Nugroho
iptc::11000000 topic::politics type::entity type::person type::politics_per
Indonesian Red Cross
Indonesian_Red_Cross_Society
iptc::11000000 topic::politics type::agency type::entity type::governmental_organisation type::organization
Red Cross
International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement
iptc::11000000 topic::politics type::entity type::igo type::organization
Head of Disaster Response
topic::none type::role type::value
Australian
topic::none type::gpe0-x type::other
2004
topic::none type::time type::value
2006
topic::none type::time type::value
Central Sulawesi
Central_Sulawesi
topic::none type::entity type::location type::regio
Australia