832 people have died due to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Palu in Indonesia
The number of dead from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia rose to 832 today, the national mitigation agency said. The agency said that it assessed the affected area to be bigger than initially thought. The 7.5 magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that followed hit the city of Palu, which is about 1,500 km from Jakarta, on Friday. Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on the beach in Palu when waves as high as 18 feet smashed onshore at dusk, sweeping many to their death.
Here are the updates on the Indonesia earthquake and tsunami:
Rescue operations underway in the tsunami and earthquake hit region
As many as 2.4 million people could have felt the quake, the disaster agency said.
The initial quake struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world's biggest Muslim majority country on the holiest day of the week.
Friday's tremor was also felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia's portion of Borneo island.
Satellite imagery provided by regional relief teams showed severe damage at some of the area's major ports, with large ships tossed on land, quays and bridges trashed and shipping containers thrown around.
Hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured, with many people being treated in the open air. There were widespread power blackouts.
C-130 military transport aircraft with relief supplies managed to land at the main airport in Palu, which reopened to humanitarian flights and limited commercial flights, but only to pilots able to land by sight alone.
On Saturday evening residents fashioned makeshift bamboo shelters or slept out on dusty playing fields, fearing powerful aftershocks would topple damaged homes and bring yet more carnage.
Amid the levelled trees, overturned cars, concertinaed homes and flotsam tossed up to 50 metres inland, survivors and rescuers struggled to come to grips with the scale of the disaster.
The disaster agency said it believed about 71 foreigners were in Palu when the quake struck, with most safe. Three French nationals and a South Korean, who may have been staying at a flattened hotel, had not yet been accounted for, it added.
Dozens of corpses lay in an open courtyard at the back of a Palu hospital, baking under a fierce tropical sun, with only one building separating it from an open triage site on the opposite side.
Save The Children program director Tom Howells said access was a "huge issue" hampering relief efforts.
The disaster agency said it believed about 71 foreigners were in Palu when the quake struck, with most safe.
In Palu on Sunday aid was trickling in, the Indonesian military had been deployed and search-and-rescue workers were doggedly combing the rubble for survivors -- looking for dozens feared trapped under one hotel alone.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in the region Sunday afternoon.
Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the final death toll in the north of Sulawesi island could be in the "thousands" since many regions have still not been reached.
National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, whose agency announced 832 deaths, says: "Today we will start the mass burial of victims, to avoid the spread of disease."
Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the final death toll in the north of Sulawesi island could be in the "thousands" since many regions have still not been reached.
Squads of orange-clad rescue workers are clambering over the tangled remains of an Indonesian hotel, hoping to dig out 50 to 60 guests still feared trapped by the earthquake-tsunami disaster.
Authorities believe the 80-room Hotel Roa-Roa in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island was near capacity when the district was ravaged by the 7.5 magnitude quake. "It is assumed there are still 50 to 60 people trapped under the rubble," said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
A man searches for victims among the rubble of a ten-storey hotel in Palu in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi. (AFP)
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."
With most of the confirmed deaths 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, and two other districts.
Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati says the government has allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million) for disaster recovery, media reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoles deaths in Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami.
"Deeply saddened by the loss of lives and devastation due to tsunami and earthquake in Central Sulawesi in Indonesia. I offer deepest condolences. India stands with its maritime neighbour in this difficult hour," he said.
Search and rescue workers help a person trapped in rubble following an earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Reuters Photo)
"I'm asking my brothers to all be ready to work day and night and to finish everything related to the evacuation," President Joko Widodo -- decked out in military fatigues -- told troops deployed to Sulawesi island.
"Ready?" he asked. "Ready!" they shouted in response.
President Joko Widodo arrived Sunday in Indonesia's quake and tsunami-devastated city of Palu, urging a non-stop recovery effort after the disaster killed more than 800 people.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo was expected to travel to the region to see the devastation for himself on Sunday.
In Palu city on Sunday aid was trickling in, the Indonesian military had been deployed and search-and-rescue workers were doggedly combing the rubble for survivors -- looking for as many as 150 people at one upscale hotel alone.
"We managed to pull out a woman alive from the Hotel Roa-Roa last night," Muhammad Syaugi, head of the national search and rescue agency, told AFP. "We even heard people calling for help there yesterday."
"What we now desperately need is heavy machinery to clear the rubble. I have my staff on the ground, but it's impossible just to rely on their strength alone to clear this."
Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla said the final number of dead could be in the "thousands."
Death toll from a powerful earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia touched 832.
The new toll announced by the national disaster agency was almost double the previous figure