PALU, Indonesia: One year since Indonesias Palu was hit by a triple whammy of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, a tsunami and soil liquefaction, roughly 700 people are still listed missing, either swept out to sea or buried under thick layers of mud and debris.
The death toll otherwise stands at 3,700. Entire houses, livestock and vehicles were swallowed by mud due to liquefaction – a phenomenon where the soil loses strength and stiffness and turns into a fluid state.
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When CNA visited ground zero in the weeks leading up to the first anniversary of the Palu disaster, large swathes of land were still covered by rubble.
The only signs of life in what were once buzzing villages were the sound of scavengers sifting through collapsed homes, gathering bits of metal roofing, beams, girders and reinforcement bars for scrap metal money.
Many survivors are still living in temporary housing as well, in the form of refugee tents provided by agencies such as the United Nations and Turkish Red Crescent. Conditions are basic and even though schooling is provided, clean water supplies only come twice a week.
A man holds up scrap metal at Balaroa in Palu. Many people were seen scavenging masses of twisted metal there while gingerly walking through debris to make it back to their motorcycles. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
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What's left of houses at Petobo after the earthquake and soil liquefaction on Sep 28, 2018. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A man walking through debris in Balaroa, which many locals scour for scrap metal to sell. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A woman combs through rubble in Balaroa for valuables, using a stick to rake through glass shards and broken concrete. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
The Poboya graveyard where victims of the Sep 28, 2018 Palu earthquake are buried. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
The tomb of a young earthquake victim. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Children run free after school in Balaroa, at the base of an earthquake survivor camp. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Makeshift shelters have been used to form a school for earthquake survivors. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A mother holds her child at a camp for people displaced by the earthquake in Balaroa. The camp is atop a hill, offering panoramic views of Palu. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
One of the many tents provided by the UN Refugee Agency at the Balaroa camp in Palu. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Children flying a kite at dusk in the camp for displaced people in Balaroa. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Children playing on a swing in a playground at the heart of the Balaroa camp for earthquake survivors in Palu. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
The iconic Babu Rahman floating mosque at Taman Ria, which once stood on concrete stilts 20m from the shoreline. The tsunami ripped the mosque from its foundations. It still stands tall one year after the earthquake, tilted to one side and half submerged during high tide (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A woman taking a selfie with her daughter in front of the Babu Rahman floating mosque at Taman Ria. Although its no longer a functioning mosque anRead More – Source
