#PrayForPalu: How you can help Indonesia tsunami victims
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#PrayForPalu: How you can help Indonesia tsunami victims

LAST WEEKEND, a devastating 7.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami swept the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, one of the four Greater Sunda Islands situated east of Borneo.

The worst hit was the city of Palu, the capital of the province of Central Sulawesi.

Palu’s Talise beach was hit by a five-meter-high tsunami shortly after the earthquake occurred. It was where scores of people had gathered for the opening of the city’s Nomini music festival.

In the aftermath, the beach was strewn with bodies. “Corpses could be seen floating in the sea,” The Guardian reported.

The earthquake destroyed infrastructure and homes, leaving thousands of survivors without shelter. At least 17,000 people were left homeless overnight.

On Oct 2, 2018, the official death toll stood at over 1,200 people, but this number is expected to rise as rescuers continue to sift through the destruction.

Rescue teams are still struggling to reach the worst-hit area, the city of Donggala, where 300,000 people live.

According to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), basic necessities that are still urgently needed to help the victims are fuel (diesel fuel and gasoline), drinking water, medical personnel, medicines and field hospitals, tents, tarps, blankets, stretchers, water tanks, food, lamps, generator sets, emergency kitchens, body bags, shrouds, and baby food.

If you wish to offer assistance to the earthquake victims, here are some organisations through which you can do so:


Established in 2013, Kitabisa.com is a crowdfunding website that campaigns for various causes such as disaster relief.

To date, it has funded 14,329 campaigns with 966,036 donors listed.


To help the Palu earthquake victims, go here to channel your donations through.

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, which has a presence in Indonesia and a hospital in Palu, was deeply affected by the earthquake.

Its Indonesia Emergency Services Team has been activated by Territorial Headquarters in Bandung, and a major disaster response in Central Sulawesi is being planned.


Donors who wish to support The Salvation Army may do so via this link.

Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT Indonesia)

Aksi Cepat Tanggap, which means Fast Action Response, has been actively involved in humanitarian activities since its founding in 2005.

It is supported by public donors and companies via corporate social responsibility partnerships.


Send through your transfers via these bank accounts: BNI Syariah 0270 360 372 or Mandiri 101 000 4802 482.


Tokopedia is one of Indonesia’s largest online marketplaces with several donation channels such as Baznas, Rumah Yatim, Rumah Zakat, and more recently, Donasi Palu.

As of Sept 30, 2018, the e-commerce platform has collected IDR240 million (US$16,100).


Donations can be made at any time of the day here.

This article originally appeared on our sister site Travel Wire Asia