The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and Indonesia’s alms agency have delivered tens of thousands of individual health kits and food parcels to more than 75,000 survivors of the deadly earthquake that hit eastern Indonesia earlier this year.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara province in mid-August. It killed at least 156 people and injured more than 1,600 others. This disaster is the country’s deadliest quake since 2022, when hundreds of people died in West Java.
More than 28,000 people are displaced across 10 regencies and cities in Flores, according to the latest official data. The August earthquake damaged more than 119,000 homes in the region.
Baznas, a government agency responsible for zakat and other Islamic social funds in Indonesia, stated that 15,000 food parcels and 15,000 individual health kits have been delivered to communities in the affected areas. The assistance is worth 18 billion rupiah, which is nearly $1 million, and aims to help fulfil basic needs.
The aid from KSrelief was very important to boost the recovery process of the affected communities in East Nusa Tenggara Timur, the agency said in a statement on Friday.
Baznas added that this humanitarian commitment was carried through even though KSrelief representatives had to overcome various obstacles and seek alternative flight routes due to the difficult situation within Saudi Arabia and the closure of the Riyadh airport.
Although about three months have passed since the earthquake occurred, the affected communities still require support to meet their basic daily needs, according to Baznas.
KSrelief partnered with Baznas in 2022 to support Indonesians in need with food aid. The organisations have regularly distributed such assistance across various districts and cities in the country, including during Ramadan.
Team members from both the Saudi aid agency and its Indonesian partner carried out field surveys and held meetings with local officials. They assessed the humanitarian situation to help identify the most urgent needs of the communities and determine aid priorities.
The Indonesian archipelago lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that leads to a high frequency of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed almost 230,000 people in more than a dozen countries, with most casualties in Indonesia.
