Indonesian President Joko Widodo vists the area affected by an earthqquake and tsunami in Palu, Sulawesi, Indonesia September 30, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
Indonesian authorities scrambled on Monday to get aid and rescue equipment into quake-hit Sulawesi island and prepared to bury some of the dead, while shaken survivors streamed away from their ruined homes in search of food and shelter.
The confirmed death toll of 1,203 looked certain to rise as rescuers reached devastated outlying communities hit on Friday by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves as high as six metres (20 feet).
Accounts filtering out of remote areas brought news of devastation, including the deaths of 34 children at a Christian study camp.
Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the small city of Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Jakarta, with hundreds more were feared buried in landslides that engulfed villages.
Turkey is ready to do its part to help Indonesia heal its wounds in the wake of powerful quake and tsunami, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday.In a message posted on Twitter, Erdoğan said: “I pray for our brothers and sisters, who were killed in an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, wish a speedy recovery to the wounded and offer my deepest condolences to the people of Indonesia.”I pray for our brothers and sisters, who were killed in an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, wish a speedy recovery to the wounded and offer my deepest condolences to the people of Indonesia.Turkey is prepared to do everything in its power to help Indonesia heal its wounds.— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RT_Erdogan) 30 Eylül 2018 “Turkey is prepared to do everything in its power to help Indonesia heal its wounds,” he added.The death toll from Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has risen to 832, the national disaster agency said on Sunday.Over the last two months, three more earthquakes with magnitudes 6.3, 6.9, and 7 hit the eastern island of Lombok, killing a total of 563 people.Indonesia lies within the Pacific Ocean’s "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Erdoğan: Turkey ready to help Indonesia heal its wounds
President Joko Widodo told reporters getting those people out was a priority.
"The evacuation is not finished yet, there are many places where the evacuation couldn't be done because of the absence of heavy equipment, but last night equipment started to arrive," Widodo said.
"We'll send as much food supplies as possible today with Hercules planes, directly from Jakarta," he said, referring to C-130 military transport aircraft.
The disaster agency said later more heavy equipment and personnel were needed to recover bodies.
One woman was recovered alive from ruins overnight in the Palu neighbourhood of Balaroa, where houses were swallowed up when the earthquake caused soil liquefaction, the national rescue agency said.
Rescue teams in Indonesia struggled on Sunday to reach communities feared devastated by a major earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi island, with a toll of more than 400 killed expected to rise sharply as contact is restored with remote areas.Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of two hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, which was hit by waves as high as six metres (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.A young woman was pulled alive from the rubble of the Roa Roa Hotel, the news website Detik.com reported. Hotel owner Ko Jefry told Metro TV on Saturday that up to 60 people were believed trapped. Hundreds of people gathered at the mall searching for loved ones."We've got information from people that their relatives are still inside, so we're focusing on that, especially to find survivors," a rescuer identified as Yusuf, working at the ruins of the mall, told Metro TV.With confirmed deaths only from Palu, authorities are bracing for much worse as reports filter in from outlying areas, in particular, Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and closer to the epicentre of the quake.Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the toll could rise into the thousands.A disaster official said the tsunami travelled across the sea at speeds of 800 kph (500 mph) before striking the shore and casualties could have been caused along a 300 km (200 miles) stretch of coast, north and south of Palu.Donggala town has been extensively damaged, with houses swept into the sea and bodies trapped in debris, according to a Metro TV reporter on the scene.The Red Cross said it had heard nothing from the Donggala region."This is extremely worrying," it said in a statement."This is already a tragedy, but it could get much worse."National search and rescue agency chief Muhammad Syaugi told Reuters rescuers were flying to Donggala by helicopter.Questions About WarningsIndonesia is all too familiar with deadly earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.Questions are sure to be asked why warning systems set up around the country after that disaster appear to have failed on Friday.The meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the Friday quake but lifted it 34 minutes later, drawing criticism it had withdrawn it too quickly. But officials said they estimated the waves had hit while the warning was in force.Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on Palu's beach when the water smashed onshore at dusk.Palu is at the head of a narrow bay, about 10 km long and 2 km wide, which had "amplified" the force of the wave as it was funnelled toward the city, a geophysics agency official said.Questions have been raised about what caused the tsunami, with speculation an underwater landslide was to blame.The BMKG said its closest sensor, about 200 km (125 miles) from Palu, had only recorded an "insignificant", six-cm (2.5 inches) wave, while researchers said it was surprising the quake, which was recorded as a "strike-slip" event, when tectonic plates move horizontally against each other rather than vertically, had generated a tsunami."It may be that the shock of the quake triggered a landslide underwater, but we don’t have any proof yet,” Abdul Muhari, who heads a tsunami research team that advises the government, told Reuters.Video footage on social media showed a man on the upper floor of a building shouting warnings of the approaching tsunami to people on the street below moments before the wave crashed ashore. Reuters was not able to authenticate the footage.The Head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Willem Rampangilei, told reporters in Sulawesi late on Saturday rescuers were struggling in their hunt for more victims."We are having difficulty deploying heavy equipment ... because many of the roads leading to Palu city are damaged," he was quoted by the Kompas newspaper as saying.About 10,000 displaced people were scattered at 50 different places in Palu, he said.Dozens of injured people were being treated in tents set up in the open.Video: Rescuers search for survivors of Indonesian quake, tsunami'Horrifying'Photos confirmed by authorities showed bodies lined up on a street on Saturday, some in bags and some with their faces covered by clothes.President Joko Widodo was scheduled to visit evacuation centres on Sunday.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Indonesia had not asked for help but he had contacted President Widodo overnight to offer support and deep sympathies.“It is horrifying ... If he needs our help, he’ll have it,” he told ABC TV’s Insiders programme.The military has started sending in aircraft with aid from Jakarta and other cities, authorities said.Palu's airport was damaged in the quake, but had reopened for limited commercial flights, authorities said.Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes.In August, a series of quakes killed more than 500 people on the tourist island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.
Rescuers search for survivors of Indonesian quake, tsunami
Most of the confirmed deaths were in Palu, a city of about 380,000 people, where authorities were preparing a mass grave to bury the dead as soon as they were identified.
However, nearly three days after the quake, the extent of the disaster was not known with authorities bracing for the toll to climb - perhaps into the thousands - as connections with remote areas up and down the coast are restored.
Of particular concern is Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts, which had been cut off from communications.
The four districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.
Indonesia's geophysics agency lifted a tsunami warning 34 minutes after it was first issued following a major earthquake that sent huge waves crashing into the northeastern coast of Sulawesi island, killing hundreds and leaving thousands more homeless.The 7.5 magnitude quake and tsunami, which hit the city of Palu about 1,500 km (940 miles) from Jakarta and further along the coastline, killed at least 384 people. Officials said on Saturday the death toll was likely to rise.Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on the beach in Palu on Friday when waves as high as six metres (18 feet) smashed onshore at dusk, sweeping many to their death.Video: Massive waves crash on shore as tsunami hits Indonesian island of SulawesiThe geophysics agency (BMKG) faced criticism on Saturday on social media, with many questioning if the tsunami warning was lifted too soon.The agency said it followed standard operating procedure and made the call to "end" the warning based on data available from the closest tidal sensor, around 200 km (125 miles) from Palu."We have no observation data at Palu. So we had to use the data we had and make a call based on that," said Rahmat Triyono, head of the earthquakes and tsunami centre at BMKG.He said the closest tide gauge, which measures changes in sea level, only recorded an "insignificant", six-centimetre (2.5 inches) wave and did not account for the giant waves near Palu.Video: At least 384 killed in Indonesian quake, tsunam"If we had a tide gauge or proper data in Palu, of course it would have been better. This is something we must evaluate for the future," said Triyono.It was not clear whether the tsunami, which officials say hammered Palu and the surrounding area at extremely high speeds measuring in the hundreds of kilometres per hour, occurred before or after the warning had been lifted."Based on the videos circulating on social media, we estimate the tsunami happened before the warning officially ended," Triyono said.Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes. The most devastating came on Boxing Day in 2004, when a magnitude 9.5 quake triggered a massive tsunami that killed around 226,000 people along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, including over 126,000 in Indonesia.Indonesia: State of emergency in wake of quake, tsunamiThe scenic town of Palu sits at the mouth of a narrow bay in northeastern Sulawesi and is home to around 380,000 people. It was hit by a tsunami in 1927 and 1968, according to Indonesia's national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB).Baptiste Gombert, a geophysics researcher at University of Oxford, said it was "surprising" the quake had generated a tsunami.Friday's quake was recorded as a "strike-slip" event where neighbouring tectonic plates move horizontally against each other, rather than vertically, which is what usually generates a tsunami."There is some speculation that there was a landslide under the sea which displaced a lot of water and caused the tsunami," he said, adding the narrow bay may have concentrated the force of the waves as they moved toward the shore.Turkish aid agency sends team to quake-hit IndonesiaSutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the disaster agency, told reporters his team had been "preparing to send public warnings that were easy to understand" when the tsunami warning was "suddenly ended".The communications ministry said repeated warnings were sent out to residents via text message, but Nugroho said the quake had brought down the area's power and communications lines and there were no sirens along the coast.Indonesians took to social media to question the BMKG's move to lift the tsunami warning and a failure to release information in a timely manner."So upset.. the warning was lifted.. although a tsunami happened..." said one Twitter user @zanoguccy in a direct message to BMKG.Death toll jumps to 384 after tsunami, quake in Indonesia
Indonesia tsunami sensors missed huge waves: official
Aid worker Lian Gogali, who had reached Donggala district by motorcycle, said hundreds of people facing a lack of food and medicine were trying to get out but evacuation teams had yet to arrive and roads were blocked.
"It's devastating," she told Reuters by text.
Indonesian Red Cross spokeswoman Aulia Arriani said the situation in another of the affected districts, Sigi, was dire.
"My volunteers found 34 bodies buried under tsunami debris ... missing children who had been doing a bible camp," she said.
Sulawesi is one of the earthquake-prone archipelago nation's five main islands and sits astride fault lines. Numerous aftershocks have rattled the region.
Indonesia declared a state of emergency Saturday for Sulawesi Island in the wake of a powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami.At least 384 people died after Friday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster management agency (BNPB).According to local news outlets, the state of emergency was declared to mobilize all state units for aid and recovery efforts.The tsunami, towering up to three meters high, hit Palu, capital of the Central Sulawesi province, and the northeast of the nearby Donggala Regency.Turkish aid agency sends team to quake-hit IndonesiaAfter its 500-meter airstrip was damaged, Palu’s airport was closed to flights, excepting certain cargo planes. Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered troops to the region to support search and rescue efforts.A hospital ship with medical equipment and nearly 100 specialist doctors is also being sent, said Indonesian officials.Local media said some 540 people were injured.Death toll jumps to 384 after tsunami, quake in IndonesiaThree more earthquakes with magnitudes 6.3, 6.9, and 7 hit the eastern island of Lombok in the last two months, killing a total of 563 people.Indonesia lies within the Pacific Ocean’s "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.Video: At least 384 killed in Indonesian quake, tsunami 
Indonesia: State of emergency in wake of quake, tsunami
FUEL AND RICE
Pictures showed expanses of splintered wood, washed-up cars and trees mashed together, with rooftops and roads split asunder. Access to many areas is being hampered by damaged roads, landslides and collapsed bridges.
A Reuters witness said queues at petrol stations on the approaches to Palu stretched for kilometres. Convoys carrying food, water and fuel awaited police escorts to prevent pilfering before heading towards the city while a stream of residents headed out.
The state energy company said it was airlifting in 4,000 litres of fuel, while Indonesia's logistics agency said it would send hundreds of tonnes of rice.
The government has allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million) for disaster recovery.
Military aircraft were sent to bring people out of Palu, where crowds of people clutching bags and boxes were waiting at the airport, military official Bambang Sudewo told Metro TV.
Indonesian authorities scrambled on Monday to get aid and rescue equipment into quake-hit Sulawesi island, and prepared to bury some of the more than 800 dead, while shaken survivors streamed out of the area in search of food and shelter.
Indonesia rushes aid to Sulawesi as death toll from quake climbs
It was hoped up to 1,500 people could be taken out every day, with children, women and the injured the priority, he said. Media footage showed chaotic scenes with officers struggling to keep order.
Indonesia, which is on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is all too familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis. A quake in 2004 triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
Questions are sure to be asked why warning systems set up after that disaster appear to have failed on Friday, and why more people in coastal areas had not moved to higher ground after a big quake, even in the absence of an official warning.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told reporters on Sunday none of Indonesia's tsunami buoys, one device used to detect waves, had been operating since 2012. He blamed a lack of funds.
The meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the quake but lifted it 34 minutes later, drawing criticism it had been too hasty.
However, officials estimated the waves had hit while the warning was in force.
The head of Indonesia's investment board said Widodo had agreed to accept international help and he would coordinate private sector assistance from around the world.