Wounds to Heal: 2018 Indonesia earthquakes

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Nine significant earthquakes hit Indonesia in 2018.

They cost the lives of almost 3,000 people of the southeast Asian country with two million people affected overall. Hundreds of thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed, with many still displaced.

Indonesians need time to heal the wounds and restore wrecked areas. Help from around the world will be needed for years to assist hurting families and children in rebuilding their homes and lives.

January 23, Banten, Java

The Java earthquake killed two people, damaged hundreds of houses and injured at least eight students, six of whom seriously wounded when the roof of their high school collapsed in Cianjur.

Residents stand near a tent after their homes were destroyed by a quake, January 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

April 18, Central Java

More than 300 houses were damaged in Central Java despite the moderate magnitude-4.4 earthquake. Three people were killed and 21 others injured.

July 28, August 5, 9 and 19, Lombok

The July 28 6.4-magnitude earthquake took 20 lives and injured 400 people on Lombok Island. Hundreds of buildings were damaged and electricity was cut. The area was badly affected.

It was a foreshock of the 6.9-magnitude quake later on August 5, 2018.

A house was damaged after an earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia, July 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

A series of earthquakes and numerous aftershocks damaged north and east Lombok followed in August, with numerous buildings collapse. Over 500 people were killed, and more than 1,300 injured.

A total blackout occurred on Lombok Island, and neighboring Bali was affected. Landslides also occurred in the aftershock.

September 28, Sulawesi

Central Sulawesi of Indonesia was hit by 2018's strongest earthquake measuring 7.5, triggering a tsunami, on September 28. It killed more than 2,000 people, injured 10,679 people with hundreds more missing, caused buildings to collapse, and left waste in Palu, the capital, and nearby areas on Sulawesi island.

The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) then confirmed a tsunami had occurred, with a height of around 5 to 7 meters striking the settlements of Palu, Donggala and Mamuju. The quake and tsunami caused a power outage that cut communications around Palu.

M7.5 earthquake, tsunami hit Indonesia. /CGTN Photo

This is also the deadliest earthquake in 2018.

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Death toll rises to 1,234 after M7.5 earthquake, tsunami hit Indonesia

World's most deadly earthquakes

Here is a brief list of some of the world's deadliest quakes from the past five years:

• September 19, 2017: A 7.1-magnitude quake hits central Mexico, killing at least 369 people.

• August 24, 2016: A 6.2-magnitude quake strikes a cluster of mountain communities 140 km (85 miles) east of Rome in central Italy, killing about 300 people.

• April 16, 2016: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake smashes Ecuador, killing more than 650 people.

• October 26, 2015: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocks the Afghan northeast, killing nearly 400 people in Afghanistan and neighboring northern Pakistan.

• April 25, 2015: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake ravages impoverished Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and disrupting the lives of more than eight million people.

• August 3, 2014: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake devastates southwestern China, killing at least 600 people in a remote area of Yunnan Province.

Why Indonesia

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the line along tectonic plates that circles the entire Pacific Rim where frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Earthquakes break out when the plates shove against one another. Ninety percent of the earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.

Scientists zero in on cause of unusual Indonesian disaster

Thousand suffer in the deadliest earthquake in Lombok. /VCG Photo