Earlier this week, a severe 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook the Western Coast of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. Sulawesi is a relatively under-developed region, turning a severe earthquake into a fatal one. As of Friday, January 15th, 42 bodies have been found with more feared to be buried under collapsed buildings. Over 600 are injured. The last week has spelled disaster for Indonesia as a country whether natural or self-inflicted. On Saturday, a Boeing 737 jet transporting 62 passengers crashed off the coast of Sriwijaya. Most are feared dead although a death total has not yet been confirmed. The next day on another Indonesian island called Java a landslide killed 24 people. The earthquake comes at a terrible time in a poverty stricken area, leaving hospitals and airports that are a necessity for rescue totaled and usless. I have looked into the emergy response from the country on all three occurences this week and feel something has to change because lives can be saved.
Indonesia has natural disater relief plans in place, but they are laregly innafective toward anyone in immediate danger requiring assistance. In an earthquake, they have a ground control unit surveying damage for survivors and work with multiple national and international response teams. All of these are standard protocal for response around the world, but these under-developed areas such as Sulawesi lack funding for an independent emergency response team. I passionately support the idea that the world has to come together on the topic of first response. Deaths were lost in this tradgic earthquake that shouldn't have been. Organizations such as BASNARS and even local government agencies need to prioritze emergency response for saving lives, especially in disaster prone areas such as Indonesia. What is your opinion on the matter? Should all parts of the world have equal support for emergency response regardless of income? I feel this is a pressing issue that does not get enough attention.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/world/asia/indonesia-earthquake-sulawesi.html
https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/facts-indonesia-earthquakes-tsunamis-and-other-natural-disasters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-disaster-budget/indonesia-to-double-disaster-relief-budget-in-2019-after-year-of-tragedies-idUSKCN1P20H0\
Sorry about the strange font, I posted and re-posted and deleted 100 times it all says normal then looks highlighted when published
ReplyDeleteDamn Zev, this is crazy I hadn't heard about it. What sucks the most is that a lot of these coastal cities and countries are very underdeveloped, making it that much worse when major earthquakes hit, because they don't have the infrastructure and resources to soften the blow.
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