Oxfam intends to scale up effort to assist half a million people.
The government of Indonesia has requested international assistance after a powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Central Sulawesi on September 28th. The earthquake and resulting tsunami has killed more than 800 people.
“The scale of the damage from the earthquake and tsunami is huge and there are fears many people are trapped under collapsed buildings like hotels and supermarkets,” says Ancilla Bere, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Manager in Indonesia. “Search and rescue operations are ongoing."
"The disaster also damaged and destroyed a large number of houses and continuing aftershocks mean other people are scared to return to their homes. More than 300,000 people are thought to be homeless.”
Oxfam is working with our local partners in Sulawesi to assess the needs of the affected people. We are scaling up our response to reach 500,000 people with essential aid supplies like ready-to-eat food, water purification kits, and shelter packs.
Depending on the results of the needs assessment, Oxfam may also help local organizations with emergency water supply and sanitation, hygiene supplies like soap to help people keep clean and avoid water-borne diseases, as well as emergency shelter supplies like tarpaulins and ropes.
Help meet the most critical needs of people struggling to survive in Indonesia.