“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. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Palu, which has more than 380,000 people, was strewn with debris from the earthquake and tsunami. Nugroho, the disaster agency spokesman, said waves were reported as high as 6 metres (20 feet) in some places. The disaster agency has said that essential aircraft can land at Palu’s airport, though AirNav, which oversees aircraft navigation, said the runway was cracked and the control tower damaged.

Source: thestar September 30, 2018 17:15 UTC