JAKARTA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Powerful quakes and an ensuing tsunami devastating Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province at the end of last month have triggered huge financial losses, and local authorities have put the death toll at 2,256, a disaster agency official disclosed here on Sunday.
The catastrophes contracted the province's economic growth as local authorities scrambled to fully restore life in Palu, provincial capital of Central Sulawesi, the districts of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Mounthong which were rattled the hardest by the deadly natural disaster, spokesman of national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
The scale of the financial loss, based on transient calculation, the spokesman said, reaches 13.82 trillion rupiah (about 912 million U.S. dollars), a huge number according to local standard.
The figure, he said, is expected to increase, as it was only a temporary calculation, and the assessment of downside risks persists.
Central Sulawesi will implement a two-year reconstruction and rehabilitation program from the beginning of next month, according to Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
"It will require about 10 trillion rupiah (about 660 million U.S. dollars) to rebuild the areas during the reconstruction and rehabilitation. Certainly, it is not an easy task, Jakarta and the provincial administration are ready for the works," he told Xinhua in a text message.
By Sunday, the number of survivors taking shelter reached a total of 223,751, spreading in 122 evacuation centers.
The 6.0, 7.4 and 6.1 magnitude quakes followed by a tsunami by up to three meters on September 28 have destroyed 68,451 houses, 327 religious buildings, and seven bridges, and have cracked roads in 168 spots in Central Sulawesi, said Sutopo.
