Google to donate USD 1 mn towards Indonesia quake relief

SAN FRANCISCO: Google will contribute $1 million (nearly Rs 7 crore) towards relief and restoration work in Indonesia which was hit by a 7.5-magnitude quake and an ensuing tsunami that has claimed over 1,200 lives.

"We're deeply saddened about the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia -- @googleorg and Googlers are donating $1M to support relief efforts," CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted late on Monday.

The tech giant has also "activated SOS Alerts to provide emergency info to those impacted," he added.

According to the Indonesian authorities, the death toll has risen to 1,234 from Friday's quake and tsunami hit in the



Sulawesi island.

Hundreds of people might still be trapped under the rubble of buildings, the Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said. Rescue teams were still not able to reach all the affected areas, the BBC reported.

An estimated 2.4 million people were affected by the disaster, said the disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said that 800 were badly injured and more than 61,000 people were displaced.

Indonesia is located on the so-called Ring of Fire of the Pacific, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity that experiences about 7,000, mostly moderate earthquakes every year.