Earthquakes of this size can often have a deadly impact on nearby communities. With fifteen events of Magnitude 7.5 and larger, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia was one of the most affected area, water crumbles into buildings and brushed away homes in the coastal city of Palu city. On Aug. 5, a powerful quake on the Indonesian island of Lombok killed 505 people, most of whom died in collapsing buildings, the biggest of these was December 2004, a gigantic magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in more than 12 countries.There has also been an active aftershock sequence, with ten events of M 4.7 and larger in the three hours following this earthquake. The largest impact in this time period was M 5.8, about 12 minutes after the M 7.5 earthquake .
The September 28, 2018 earthquake was anticipated by a series of small-to-moderate sized earthquakes over the hours leading up to this occurrence, the USGS located 4 other earthquakes of M 4.9 and larger in the core region, beginning with a M 6.1 earthquake three hours earlier and just to the south of the M 7.5 event.“More than 384 people have died in the city of Palu alone,” one of the two cities worst-hit by the tsunami, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency. After a large bridge collapsed Rescue officials were fighting Saturday afternoon to reach the nearby city of Donggala, home to 300,000 people, and the surrounding areas. Authorities fear that the death toll could continue to rise quickly.
“It is not just the people in the large urban areas. There are a lot of people also living in remote communities who are hard to reach” Jan Gelfand, head of the International Red Cross in Indonesia said in an interview
What to do after an earthquake aftershocks hours, days, or weeks after the main quake?
Aftershocks can cause building damage and falling remains that could hurt you .Make sure that you avoid open flames in defective buildings. Earthquakes can bust gas lines, so don’t use lighters or matches. Earthquakes can cause dangerous tsunamis and flooding so if you live near the coast, stay away from the beach. Drive carefully and plan alternative routes. Structural damage and traffic light outages may make it difficult to get to your destination.
