Operation Samudra Maitri
Operation Samudra Maitri is the relief effort launched by India to assist the victims of the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. The operation was launched after communication between the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and President of Indonesia Joko Widodo on 1 October 2018. Background On 28 September 2018, a shallow earthquake struck in the neck of the Minahasa Peninsula, Indonesia, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The quake was located away from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away as Samarinda on East Kalimantan and also in Tawau, Malaysia. This event was preceded by a sequence of foreshocks, the largest of which was a magnitude 6.1 tremor that occurred earlier that day. Following the mainshock, a tsunami alert was issued for the nearby Makassar Strait, but was called off half an hour later. A localised tsunami struck Palu, sweeping shore-lying houses and buildings on its way. The combined effects of the earthquake and tsunami led to the deaths of at least 1,407 people and injured a further 632. This makes it the deadliest earthquake to strike the country since the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, as well as the deadliest