On 28 September, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake and at least 494 aftershocks hit Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The largest earthquake, in combination with a landslide on the ocean floor, triggered a  tsunami that struck Palu Bay and the western coast at a speed of 800km per hour with waves of up to 6m.

At least 616,000 have been affected, with 74,000 displaced  and as of 9th October, 2,100  people have died.

These figures are expected to rise as the forecasted weather will increase the risks of waterborne and vector-borne diseases.

The earthquake also triggered significant levels of land liquification across an estimated
430 hectares of land causing serious humanitarian consequences as two villages sunk into the earth with the loss of some 5,000 people.  Search and Rescue efforts were terminated on 11/10/18 and the areas are expected to be designated mass graves.

Local Infrastructure has been devastated and the Indonesian Government has ordered all foreign humanitarian workers to leave the quake zone.

However, on 15th October, 2018 the World Bank has offered Indonesia up to US$1Billion in funding to boost their disaster preparedness and recovery.