Indonesia’s disaster agency, while telling on Sunday that death toll from last week’s earthquake and tsunami has more than doubled to 832, said regencies of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong — with a combined population of 1.2 million — had yet to be fully assessed.
“The death toll is believed to be still increasing since many bodies were still under the wreckage, while many have not been reached,” said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
Bodies covered in blue and yellow tarps lined the streets of Palu, while rescuers dug through rubble in the hopes of finding survivors from the twin disasters that struck Friday evening.
Essentials being sent
Aid and supplies were being sent to the area via military and commercial aircraft, including helicopters, to reach badly affected areas. Officials said the area was lacking medical supplies, fuel, fresh water and experts.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo toured Palu on Sunday. “There are many challenges,” said Mr. Jokowi. “We have to do many things soon, but conditions do not allow us to do so.”
It is the latest natural disaster to hit Indonesia, which is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire’, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Last month, a powerful quake on the island of Lombok killed 505 people.
In Donggala, the site closest to the earthquake’s epicentre, aerial footage aired on Metro TV showed the sugary blond sands of beaches swept out to sea, as were some buildings. Damage to some buildings in the town was severe, with plywood walls shredded and chunks of concrete scattered on the pavement. Much of the damage, however, appeared limited to the waterfront.
Palu, which has more than 3,80,000 people, was strewn with debris from the earthquake and tsunami. A mosque heavily damaged by the quake was half submerged and a shopping mall was reduced to a crumpled hulk. A large bridge with yellow arches had collapsed.
The city is built around a narrow bay that apparently magnified the force of the tsunami waters as they raced into the tight inlet. Mr. Nugroho, the disaster agency spokesman, said waves were reported as high as six meters (20 feet) in some places.
Looters were stealing from the badly damaged shopping mall. They did not appear to be concerned about their safety, despite ongoing aftershocks and the structure’s questionable stability.
Mr. Nugroho said 61 foreigners were in Palu at the time of the disaster. Most of them had been accounted for, but one South Korean was believed to be trapped in the ruins of the Roa-Roa Hotel, while three others from France and one from Malaysia were missing. The survivors were to be evacuated to the Sulawesi city of Makassar in the island’s far south.
Flawed warning system
Questions are sure to be asked about why warning systems set up after the 2004 tsunami appear to have failed on Friday. Mr. Nugroho, bemoaning a fall in funding, said no tsunami buoys, one type of instrument used to detect the waves, in Indonesia had been operating since 2012.
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. But officials 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 surged. A disaster official said the tsunami travelled across the sea at speeds of 800 kmph Video on social media showed water bearing whirls of debris rushing in as people shouted in alarm and scattered.
The BMKG said its closest tidal gauge sensor, about 200 km (125 miles) from Palu, had only recorded an “insignificant” 6 cm (2.5 inches) wave. Palu’s airport was damaged in the quake, but had reopened for limited commercial flights, authorities said.
Neighbours including Australia, Thailand and China offered help.
