Updated: 9am, 1st October, 2018
More than 830 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after an earthquake and tsunami struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
The 7.5 magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami destroyed hundreds of homes in the city of Palu in central Sulawesi and the neighbouring city of Donggala when they struck around 6pm on Friday night.
Authorities have said at least 830 people have been killed. Most are believed to have died when buildings collapsed in the earthquake but some were washed out to sea by the tsunami which reportedly reached speeds of 800kph across the open water. Authorities have said they expect the death toll to climb much higher yet.
Aftershocks have continued to add to the damage from the disaster and have set off a series of landslides.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he has instructed his security minister to coordinate the response to the disaster and has asked the miltary chief to coordinate search and rescue efforts. A military hospital ship which had been stationed off Lombok has reportedly been redeployed to the area.
Oxfam Australia’s Chief Executive Helen Szoke said she held “grave concerns” the death toll could increase as emergency workers accessed new areas.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Indonesia after this terrible disaster,” said Dr Szoke. “Worryingly, the National Disaster Management Agency has said they’ve received no information from the district of Donggala, which is closer to the epicentre of the earthquake.”
The earthquake follows a series of quakes in July and August which killed almost 500 people on the island of Lombok, which lies hundreds of kilometres to the south-west of Sulawesi near Bali.
