Thousands homeless year after Indonesia quake

JAKARTA: Nearly 60,000 people are still living in makeshift accommodation nearly a year after a devastating earthquake and tsunami pounded the Indonesian city of Palu, the Red Cross said Monday.

The magnitude 7.5 quake and subsequent deluge razed swathes of the coastal city on Sulawesi island last September, killing more than 4,300 people and displacing some 170,000 residents.

The force of the impact saw entire neighbourhoods levelled by liquefaction -- a process where the ground starts behaving like a liquid and swallows up the earth like quicksand. It also destroyed fishing boats, shops and irrigation systems, robbing locals of their income.

A year later, around 57,000 people "are still living in temporary accommodation, unsure where and when they can rebuild" said the Indonesian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

"We are hoping the government will redouble their efforts to identify settlement areas and help thousands of families... build permanent homes," said head of the IFRC Indonesia country office.