Following a series of earthquakes and a tsunami, the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia has been plunged into darkness and left utterly devastated.
The first earthquake tremors were felt on Friday in Palu. However, it was a 7.5 magnitude quake that triggered a tsunami warning. The tsunami wave hit beaches in the cities of Palu and Donggala.
DEVELOPING: Tsunami hits the Indonesian city of Palu after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake; reports of casualties https://t.co/xg05OhkjeB pic.twitter.com/nskDSAMaAL
— BNO News (@BNONews) September 28, 2018
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake hit just off central Sulawesi at a depth of 10 km and left many buildings destructed.
A video footage of the devastation that the tsunami caused in Palu, some 80 km away from the epicenter of the quake, shows waves hitting buildings, and crashing through some others already damaged from the earthquake.
The video appears to have been filmed from the top floor of a parking area.
Reports claims waves as high as 5-10 feet wrecked havoc on different parts of the city, destroying Palu, which is home to some 350,000 people, and the Donggala region in Sulawesi, Central Indonesia.
Also seen in the video is the destruction from the earthquake, the cracks it left in roads, buildings it brought down and lives it disrupted. Here’s the video.
https://youtu.be/XQ_78iYGNw4
The earthquake and resultant tsunami has left 38 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise. More than 350 people have been declared injured.
CNN reports that the Indonesian National Armed Forces have been deployed to help with the rescue efforts. However, the tsunami caused a power outage in Palu, snapping its communication lines and making collection of information difficult.
According to Indian Express, Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a TV interview,
“All national potential will be deployed, and tomorrow morning we will deploy Hercules and helicopters to provide assistance in tsunami-affected areas.”
Only last month, another series of quakes had hit several other islands, resulting in a substantial death toll.