Disaster after disaster

Indonesia should brace itself to face the natural calamities that have currently destroyed a lot of the country (“Indonesia calls for international help to deal with quake-tsunami”, Gulf News, October 2). The set of earthquakes struck off the Dongala region, Central Sulawesi, with the strongest one being 7.4 in magnitude, last week. It even caused a caused a tsunami, which has made the situation there worse.

Though the official figure says that over 1,000 people have lost their lives, it is feared that thousands more have perished because of this disaster. The death toll could rise in the coming days. Risk of disasters is part of daily life around the globe.

But Indonesia is at the highest risk, due to its geological location. The country will always be prone to natural disasters and its people will always be at risk. Over 200,000 people have lost their lives when tsunamis have hit in the past.

Rescuers have been trying to reach out to the trapped victims in collapsed buildings, but due to the blocked roads, broken communication, damaged airport and lack of heavy machinery, they are finding it really difficult to do the rescue operation and provide aid to the affected areas.

It will take a long time for the pieces to be put together and for normalcy to return to those caught in the tragedy. From Ms Jayashree Kulkarni Abu Dhabi