Survivors of the Indonesia earthquake struggle to contemplate what’s next

PETOBO, PALU, INDONESIA - OCTOBER 4: Veronika lived in Petobo, an area of Palu city effectively flattened in the earthquake that hit Sulawesi. Her husband and children miraculously survived, and have to contemplate what their future looks like now. (Photo by Timothy McLaughlin for The Washington Post)

October 5 -- The Washington Post

PALU, Indonesia — Gathered with her extended family under a wide tree at the edge of a dusty soccer field, Veronika is among the tens of thousands of Palu residents stuck in limbo.

A week after a powerful earthquake flattened entire villages and a tsunami hit this coastal region on the island of Sulawesi, the Indonesian government is shifting its attention to the mammoth task of cleaning up and rebuilding.

The twin disasters have caused an estimated $700 million in damage and taken at least 1,571 lives. Officials say that rebuilding and reconstructing the villages could take months, as engineers and scientists work to guarantee that the new cities will be better able to withstand the region’s frequent quakes.

For more than 70,000 homeless survivors, and for the many who have lost loved ones, there is the more urgent and daunting task of deciding what to do next.

Full story here.