VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has offered condolences and sympathy through the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi over the earthquake and tsunami that hit Central Sulawesi on Friday.

Minister Taro Kono conveyed his deep condolences to all the families of the dead victims, according to a statement from the Japanese embassy in Jakarta.

"I express my condolences to the government and all the people of Indonesia for the earthquake and tsunami disaster that caused significant loss of life and damage on the island of Sulawesi on September 28, 2018," Minister Kono remarked.

The Japanese government said it was ready to provide assistance to the Indonesian government in any form to deal with the impact of the earthquake.

"I pray that the injured victims of the disaster can be recovered soon and places that have been damaged by the disaster are quickly restored," Kono said.

In addition, expressions of condolences were also conveyed by a number of government representatives from friendly countries including Britain, Australia, France and Denmark.

British junior minister for Asia Pacific Affairs Mark Field through his Twitter account @MarkFieldUK expressed deep condolences to all communities affected by the tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia.

"Our prayers are with family and relatives of the victims," Mark said, which was uploaded by the British Ambassador to Indonesia, Moazzam Malik.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in his Twitter account @ScottMorrisonMP, "very sad to hear the tragic events that occurred in Sulawesi".

By calling President Joko Widodo @jokowi`s Twitter account, Morrison conveyed Australia`s readiness to assist post-disaster recovery efforts.

The condolences were also conveyed by the French Ambassador to Indonesia Jean-Charles Berthonnet through his Twitter account @JCBerthonnet, as well as the Danish Ambassador to Indonesia Rasmus A Kristensen through the @DubesDmarkmark account.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded a 7.4 magnitude earthquake which occurred on Friday (Sept 28) at 05:02 p.m. local time, triggered a tsunami as high as 0.5 to six meters on the west coast of Central Sulawesi. (ANTARA)