What Happened?
At least 844 people died in eastern Indonesia after an earthquake and tsunami struck the island of Sulawesi Friday, according to the New York Times.
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake created a tsunami that destroyed thousands of buildings and left people scavenging the streets for food and aid. Floods from the tsunami have caused blocked roads and food shortages.
The Latest
Rescue teams searched for survivors and confirmed over 840 dead, with numbers expected to increase as high as one thousand as the searches continue. With a lack of equipment, rescuers had difficulty finding survivors who may be trapped under debris, according to the New York Times.
People looked through body bags that were lined up in the streets for missing family members.
U.S. President Donald Trump extended his “warmest condolences” and said he is sending first responders to Indonesia in a press conference Monday, according to the Washington Post.
In Context
The tsunami detector buoys were not functioning properly and failed to prepare the country for the disaster, according to BBC News. Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told BBC that the 21 detectors in the sea were damaged or stolen.
“The tragedy is the latest natural disaster to hit Indonesia, which is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the ‘Ring of Fire,’ an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin,” USA Today reported.
