21 Oct 2024 | Updated 11 Dec 2024
On Friday September 28th, 2018, a devastatingly powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia. A Khalsa Aid team consisting of volunteers from various parts of the world decided to assist the victims of the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami.
On Friday September 28th, 2018, a devastatingly powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Shortly after, a tsunami and a series of landslides caused widespread destruction and the loss of more than 4,000 lives in the Palu and Dongalla areas. The tsunami approached land at a staggering speed of 250mph (400km/h) with waves reaching heights of up to 7 meters. Thousands of buildings and homes were devastated, the towns of Balaroa and Petobo were completely submerged as the ground slid from underneath them. In Sigi, the Jono Oge village was shifted an astounding 3km form its original position. (Source [USGS](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000h3p4/impact "USGS")).
A Khalsa Aid team consisting of volunteers from various parts of the world decided to assist the victims of the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami. However, getting there was more difficult than they could have ever anticipated. When they landed in Jakarta, all flights into Palu were stopped given that the runway was completely destroyed by a 500m crack that had developed during the earthquake. The team was forced to take an internal flight to Makassar with the intention of taking a boat to reach Palu. However, one member of the volunteer team managed to reach Palu on a hired motorbike and assess the situation before the rest of the team arrived.
Whilst in Makassar, the team were able to purchase a few essentials for temporary shelters and arrange shipping before leaving on a small plane to Palu. The team landed at a completely dark airport that had been taken over by the army. The official figure when they landed was 400 casualties. As the days passed the numbers were rapidly increasing; after 10 days the numbers climbed to 4,340 casualties and over 10,000 injuries. The team initially went to the tsunami affected areas, just outside of Palu and discovered an area where the earthquake and tsunami victims gathered for safety. Everything was destroyed; even with money, there was no way for locals to get food, clean water or essentials. Within a couple of days, the team managed to provide materials for temporary shelters, blankets and solar lanterns to those affected and living in the open or under tree canopies between Palu and Dongalla.
Sigi, a town affected by the landslides/liquefaction was a ghost town and deep cracks had developed through the roads to an extent that a four-wheel-drive could not get to those affected. The army was supplying food/essentials to families via helicopter. Whilst the army focussed on Sigi, the Khalsa Aid team focussed on other areas where people were heavily affected, needing their help the most.
The volunteer team was able to truly make an impact on the Indonesian families affected by the earthquake and tsunami. By providing simple things such as temporary shelter, blankets, lanterns, water, baby food, women’s essentials, etc, they were able to make a huge impact on the affected families between Palu and Dongalla. Fresh food was being delivered as the markets had finally began to reopen and the size of the team decreased in the following weeks as the number of displaced Indonesian families dropped. Natives were rebuilding their houses or moving in with other families and everyone was finally beginning to find a new start.