NZDF arrives in Indonesia with emergency aid after tsunami

A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft arrives at the city of Balikpapan in Indonesia to begin unloading aid materials for the area. Photo / Supplied

A New Zealand Defence Force Hercules aircraft touched down in earthquake and tsunami ravaged Indonesia last night with 8.2 tonnes of emergency aid.

The C-130 Hercules and its 14-member detachment crew arrived at midnight last night.

The aircraft's captain, Flight Lieutenant Dave Natapu, said the team was looking forward to getting "stuck in".

"I think we can do a lot of good here."

Last week, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, followed by a powerful tsunami, killed at least 1400 people and injured roughly 2500.

Structures have been totally wiped out after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo / AP

More than 80,000 people have been displaced and thousands of homes and buildings in Palu and surrounding areas have been destroyed.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Winston Peters – who arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday for meetings with Indonesian Government Ministers – announced the Government had deployed the Hercules to provide assistance.

Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said the Hercules and its crew would stay and help transport aid supplies and emergency responders to the quake-damaged city of Palu on Sulawesi Island and other affected areas starting today.

He said a multinational operation to fly aid supplies to disaster zones has been staged out of Balikpapan – a port city 380km west of Palu.

"We will be working with Indonesian authorities and our international partners to provide an air bridge between Balikpapan and Palu and help bring aid supplies to where they are needed most."

People are evacuating the city of Palu. Photo / AP

The United Nations humanitarian agency, UNOCHA, estimates that about 190,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

New Zealand aid to Indonesia has now topped $5 million, with the Government committing $3m to aid agencies, including the Red Cross, and $1.5m for "stand-by funding" for the international community's relief efforts.

"The scale of the relief effort required following last week's earthquake and tsunami is becoming increasingly apparent, and there are many people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance," Peters said in a statement earlier this week.