United States Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan visited Palu in Central Sulawesi to see the communities affected by recent earthquakes a tsunami, and he saw that the "resilient community is beginning to get back on its feet".

Donovan was speaking to journalists in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, the hub for relief aid for Palu, Sigi and Donggala, after he oversaw the delivery of relief aid from the US to Indonesia on Tuesday.

"First, I would like to express heartfelt condolences to the victims and families and communities of the earthquake and tsunami. I'd also like to pay tribute to the resilience of the communities that I saw," Donovan said. The community, he said, was slowly getting back on its feet.

"I saw and heard about heroes at work in the communities in Palu and surrounding areas. These range from the volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross to the [Indonesian Military]," he said.

Donovan also mentioned volunteers from Wahana Visi Indonesia (World Vision Indonesia), which brought Indonesian disaster relief experts to Palu from their latest task in Syria.

He said the US would assist the community to help it recover.

The US sent 2,120 rolls of heavy duty plastic sheeting, a kind of multipurpose tarpaulin, hygiene kits and water purification tools. The aid was sent using three C-130 planes that landed on Friday at Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan. Nearly 135 metric tons of aid worth US$3.7 million were delivered to Indonesia. (evi)