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Rescuers are still searching for survivors four days after the earthquake and tsunami that killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of homes in Palu, an island of fishermen and farmers in central Indonesia.
Humanitarian workers continued to fight on Monday to send supplies by truck to the most affected areas, as the central airport is unusable. Authorities and aid agencies feared that the toll of 844 deaths would have increased once they assessed the damage in these hard-to-reach places.
Here is what we know.
A ship is seen beached at Wani, Donggala, central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on October 1st. Photo Antara Foto / Muhammad Adimaja / via Reuters
The earthquake and tsunami destroyed thousands of homes in Indonesia's Sulawesi region. Photo of Antara Foto / Muhammad Adimaja / via Reuters
What happened?
On September 28, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the coast of Palu, a city of about 380,000 people. A tsunami followed. In addition to destroying homes, power lines and mobile towers were destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami, which prevented any communication with the affected areas.
Indonesia has a tsunami warning system consisting of a network of buoys and sensors, offered by the United States, Germany and Malaysia after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 228,000 people. However, some buoys have been damaged by vandals or theft, which may have limited the effectiveness of the system.
In last week's earthquake, the government issued a tsunami warning, but it lasted only half an hour and SMS may not have been sent to residents because of power lines and damaged cell towers.
Many of the victims have been buried by mud because of "liquefaction", which occurs when earthquakes cause a temporary loss of strength of sediments captured by water and act as a fluid.
People injured or affected by the earthquake and tsunami are waiting to be evacuated on an air force plane to Palu, Indonesia, on September 30. Photo of Antara Foto / Muhammad Adimaja via Reuters
The search and rescue teams were looking for survivors several days after the earthquake and tsunami. Photo of Antara Foto / Hafidz Mubarak A / via Reuters
"There are still hundreds of victims buried in the mud," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said they buried the dead in mass graves to prevent the spread of disease. Volunteers were asked to prepare for 1,300 casualties, Al Jazeera reported.
What are the main challenges?
Access to survivors is the main challenge, said Fajar Jasmin, communications officer at Save the Children in Indonesia. The seaports are destroyed and the airports are full of people trying to leave, he said.
The solution, then, is to ship supplies from the south of the island, but that could take at least 20 hours, said Margarettha Siregar, director of emergency response at World Vision Indonesia in Jakarta.
About 16,000 people have lost their homes and are looking for help in about two dozen aid camps outside the city, Jasmin said.
Residents carry their belongings on Oct. 1 after an earthquake in Palu, Indonesia's Sulawesi Island on Friday. Photo of Beawiharta / Reuters
People are "very scared" to return home for fear of aftershocks, Siregar said.
Since the beginning of the first days of search and rescue, humanitarian organizations are now consulting with the government to provide residents with food and hygiene kits, as well as tarpaulins, blankets and mats for temporary shelters. . The rescue groups also plan to designate child-friendly places so that they can continue their studies and play.
"We want these activities to be as disruptive as possible," said Jasmin. "It's important that they see that their life is still going on."
Who helps?
Several aid agencies are responding to the disaster, including:
Note: We checked the efforts of these organizations as best we could. If you're not sure about the legitimacy of a charity, visit Charity Navigator. Dan Sagalyn and Layla Quran of PBS NewsHour contributed to this report.
