Residents stand in front of a damaged shopping mall after an earthquake hit Palu, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia September 29, 2018.
The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi jumped to 384 on Saturday, authorities said, with many of those killed swept away by giant waves as they played on the beach.
Strong aftershocks continued to rock the coastal city on Saturday morning after waves up to six metres (18 feet) high swept through the scenic tourist town on Friday, triggered by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on land.
"When the (tsunami) threat arose yesterday, people were still doing their activities on the beach and did not immediately run and they became victims," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency BNPB said in news briefing in Jakarta.
Hundreds of people were preparing for a beach festival to celebrate Palu's anniversary. The festival was due to start Friday night.
Scenes of major destruction after an earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed 384 on Saturday, with many of those killed swept away by giant waves as they played on the beach.Massive destruction after Indonesia's deadly earthquake
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Some people climbed six metre (18 feet) trees to escape the tsunami and survived, Nugroho said.
Photos confirmed by authorities showed bodies being lined up along the street on Saturday, some in bags and some with their faces covered with clothes.
Amateur footage shown by local TV stations, which could not immediately be authenticated by Reuters, showed waters crashing into houses along Palu's shoreline, scattering shipping containers and flooding into a mosque in the city.
Nugroho described the damage as "extensive" with thousands of houses, hospitals, shopping malls and hotels collapsed, a bridge washed away and the main highway to Palu cut due to a landslide.
At least 384 people died after Friday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami shook Indonesia. The tsunami, towering up to three meters high and triggered by Friday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake, hit Palu, capital of the Central Sulawesi province, and the northeast of the nearby Donggala Regency.
At least 384 killed in Indonesian quake, tsunami
Bodies of some victims were found trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, he said, adding 540 people were injured. Dozens of injured people were being treated in makeshift medical tents set up outdoors, TV images showed.
Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the quake, but lifted it 34 minutes later. The agency has been widely criticised for not informing a tsunami had hit Palu on Saturday, though officials said waves had come within the time the warning was issued.
The quake and tsunami caused a major power outage that cut communications around Palu and on Saturday authorities were still having difficulties coordinating rescue efforts.
The disaster mitigation agency has not been able to get any information from the fishing town of Donggala, closer to the epicentre of the quake 27 km (16 miles) away. More than 600,000 people live in Donggala and Palu.
Gigantic waves can be seen crashing against the coastline as water gushes through streets and damages the local mosque and other buildings on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as a tsunami hits following an earthquake.
Massive waves crash on shore as tsunami hits Indonesian island of Sulawesi
The city's airport remained closed after its runway and air traffic control tower was damaged in the quake but officials said they were preparing to reopen to allow aid to come in.
Nugroho, spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said no command centre for disaster recovery has been created yet.
The Palu area was hit by a less powerful quake earlier on Friday, which destroyed some houses, killed one person and injured at least 10 in Donggala, authorities said.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the second quake at a strong 7.5, after first saying it was 7.7.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes. In August, a series of major quakes killed over 500 people in the tourist island of Lombok and destroyed dozens of villages along its northern coast.
Palu was hit by tsunami in 1927 and 1968, according to BNPB.
A tsunami of up to two metres hit a small city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi after a major 7.5 quake struck offshore on Friday, collapsing buildings and washing a vessel ashore, but there was no word on casualties, officials said.Authorities received information that Palu had been hit, said Dwikorita Karnawati, who heads Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency, BMKG, amid a rapid series of aftershocks."The 1.5- to two-metre tsunami has receded," Karnawati told Reuters. "It ended. The situation is chaotic, people are running on the streets and buildings collapsed. There is a ship washed ashore," she added.BMKG had earlier issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it within the hour.Amateur footage shown by local TV stations, which could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters, showed waters crashing into houses along Palu's shoreline.The national search and rescue agency will deploy a large ship and helicopters to aid with the operation, said agency chief Muhammad Syaugi, adding that he had not been able to contact his team in Palu.Palu, hit by a 6.2 magnitude quake in 2005 which killed one person, is a tourist resort at the end of a narrow bay famous for its beaches and water sports.In 2004, an earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.Earlier on Friday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said it was having difficulty reaching some authorities in Palu and the fishing town of Donggala, closest to the epicentre of the quake 80 km (50 miles) away at a shallow 10 km underground.Palu airport was closed.The area was hit by a lighter quake earlier in the day, which destroyed some houses, killing one person and injuring at least 10 in Donggala, authorities said.Some people took to Twitter saying they could not contact loved ones. "My family in Palu is unreachable," Twitter user @noyvionella said.The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the second quake at a strong 7.5, after first saying it was 7.7.More than 600,000 people live in Donggala and Palu."The (second) quake was felt very strongly, we expect more damage and more victims," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, BNPB spokesman said.Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes.A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi. 
Tsunami hits small city on Indonesia's Sulawesi after quake-officials