On 28 September 2018, a shallow, large earthquake struck in the neck of the Minahasa Peninsula, Indonesia, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The magnitude 7.5 quake was located 70 km (43 mi) away from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away as Samarinda on East Kalimantan and also in Tawau, Malaysia. The combined effects of the earthquake and tsunami led to the deaths of an estimated 4,340 people.
Men’s cricket team captain Virat Kohli was provided with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The annual National Sports Awards were bestowed on the best athletes that the country has seen in the past one year, which is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India.