Indonesia earthquake, tsunami death toll tops 400

International Desk: Rescue workers in Indonesia continued a desperate search for survivors Sunday, two days after a powerful earthquake hit the island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami, killing more than 400 people.

After the 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit Friday, water smashed into buildings and swept away homes in the coastal city of Palu, home to 350,000 people.

Indonesian Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho put the death toll at 405 early Sunday, based on the number of bodies that had been recovered. More than 400 people were badly injured, Sutopo said.

Many victims were still buried under the rubble of buildings and houses, Sutopo said, and evacuation efforts were slowed by lack of heavy equipment and personnel.

Electricity and communications have been cut off, making it difficult to assess the damage in Palu and nearby fishing community of Donggala, Sutopo said.

"It is not just the people in the large urban areas. There are a lot of people also living in remote communities who are hard to reach" Jan Gelfand, head of the International Red Cross in Indonesia, told media.

With Palu airport closed, relief workers have to make their way to Palu by road. Sulawesi is one of the biggest islands in the world and the drive from the nearest airport is around 10-12 hours. "We already have people en route but you never know what damage there is to the road infrastructure."

In Palu, authorities urged residents to not go inside their homes Saturday night and to sleep away from buildings -- fields, roads or yards because of the danger from aftershocks.

Dr. Komang Adi Sujendra, Director of Undata Hospital in Palu was seeking help from the public following the quake.

"At the moment, in our hospital, electricity is out all over Palu, roads are cracked, the phone network doesn't work," he said in a video posted on Twitter. "We are hoping for any help."

An air traffic controller who stayed behind to make sure a passenger airplane took off was among the dozens of victims.

Anthonius Gunawan Agung, 21, died in the hospital after he jumped off the traffic control tower at the Palu airport when he thought the tower was collapsing.

The horrific scene began Friday when the first in a series of tremors was felt at 3 p.m. (3 a.m. ET) 35 miles (56 km) north of Palu, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Three quakes of 4.9 and larger magnitudes were recorded up to three hours before the tremor near Palu, the USGS said.

The shaking of the 7.5-magnitude tremor was "severe" and the likely damage following the quake was considered "moderate to heavy," the USGS said.

A series of aftershock quakes were reported in the aftermath of the quake, including a 5.8 magnitude tremor just 12 minutes later.

An early tsunami warning had been issued by the Indonesian meteorological agency, but was later lifted after the agency ascertained that the water had receded.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Sep 30, 2018/Nasim