JAKARTA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have commenced construction of a transient settlement for survivors of quakes and an ensuing tsunami in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, while geologists are striving to set up a map of secure locations for permanent settlement.
Multiple quakes of 6.0, 7.4 and 6.1 magnitude destroyed a total of 67,310 houses in Palu city, the districts of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Mountong, at the end of last month that forced as many as 82,775 people to flee home and take shelter under makeshift tents or tarpaulin.
A total of 100 units of houses will be transiently settled by the quake and tsunami-affected persons in compounds near Balaroa and Petobo, said Budi Laksonco, coordinator of volunteers who are engaging in the rebuilding.
The settlement would be used by survivors for about two years before a permanent settlement is completely rebuilt by the government, the coordinator said.
"This is the start of the building of temporary settlement," he was quoted by Antara news wire as saying in the province.
Families with sick members, babies, elderly people or widows will be put on priority for settlement, according to the official.
Besides, the volunteer said the temporary settlement would also be constructed in Palu, the provincial capital, and the districts of Donggala and Sigi, which were devastated by the deadly natural disasters.
Meanwhile, the country's geology authorities are attempting to set up a map of secure places for settlement in the province.
The mapping came after two residential areas saw a soil movement called liquefaction and an up-and-down phenomenon during the catastrophes last month.
The movements sank thousands of houses and left over 5,000 residents missing.
The search mission for the victims is officially terminated on Friday, after a day of extension, while the number of bodies retrieved has been put at least 2,090, according to spokesman of the national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho on Friday.
