Tsunami of up to two metres hits Indonesia after earthquake
A tsunami of up to two metres has hit a small city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, collapsing buildings and washing a vessel onto land, after a magnitude-7.5 quake struck offshore, but there has been no word on casualties, officials say.
Authorities received information that Palu had been hit amid a rapid series of aftershocks, Dwikorita Karnawati, who heads Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency, BMKG, said.
"The 1.5 to two-metre tsunami has receded, it ended," Ms Karnawati said.
"The situation is chaotic, people are running on the streets and buildings collapsed. There is a ship washed ashore," she added.
Videos circulating on social media show a powerful wave hitting the provincial capital, Palu, with people screaming and running in fear.
The ABC was unable to immediately identify the source of the footage.
Indonesian disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said houses were swept away by the tsunami and families had been reported missing.
He said communications with central Sulawesi were down, and the search and rescue effort was being hampered by darkness.
BMKG had earlier issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it within the hour.
"We advise people to remain in safe area, stay away from damaged buildings," Mr Nugroho said in a televised interview.
The national search and rescue agency will deploy a large ship and helicopters to aid with the operation, agency chief Muhammad Syaugi said, adding he had not been able to contact his team in Palu.
Palu, hit by a magnitude-6.2 quake in 2005 which killed one person, is a tourist resort at the end of a narrow bay famous for its beaches and water sports.
In 2004, an earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
Earlier on Friday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said it was having difficulty reaching some authorities in Palu and the fishing town of Donggala, closest to the epicentre of the quake 80 kilometres away at a shallow 10 kilometres underground.
Palu airport was closed.
'We expect more damage and more victims'
The area was hit by a lighter quake earlier in the day, which destroyed some houses, killing one person and injuring at least 10 in Donggala, authorities said.
Some people took to Twitter saying they could not contact loved ones. "My family in Palu is unreachable," Twitter user @noyvionella said.
More than 600,000 people live in Donggala and Palu.
"It happened while we still have difficulties in collecting data from nine villages affected by the first quake," Mr Nugroho said.
"The [second] quake was felt very strongly, we expect more damage and more victims."
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes.
A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
Heavy situation. I wonder if the tsunami propagated south, affecting the northern coasts of Java, Bali, and Lombok?
Maybe the worst one ever. At least since 2004.
Must have been a series of tsunamis? as that road where the truck is, is covered with water.
Surge had a fair bit of speed too it.
Had the mosque collapsed?
{R.I.P} Video link to extra footage of Wave & Swirling sea...
Youtube Link to Tragedy is the same as one directly above... OK!
Ben's already linked !
Swellnetonians send regards to Indonesians and Welcome Tsunami/Earthquake experts.
BMKG(Meteorology Climatology & Geophysics Council) + Pacific Neighbours
20 Indonesians arrive in Oz today for 2 weeks study into same events unfolding in News.
Current events may obviously curtail such arrangements.
Following recent Donggala Earthquake.
BMKG issued the highest level of Tsunami Alert (0.5m- 3m)...for Palu
This was revised to lowest level of less than .05m
Checking tide gauge at Mamuju (273km from Palu) Revealing 6cm change only.
BMKG then retracted Tsunami Alert for Palu.
A 1.5m rising to 3m high wall of water crashed into Palu.
Officials say no Australians are missing/Aid is forthcoming/No assist has been requested.
No hotline number is availed at this time.
Indonesia/Aust Embassy just hosted Tsunami Scientists now assisting Tsunami survivors.
384 dead, more than 500 injured. Wow. How very sad.
From the above footage and getting a pretty terrifying view of the size and power of the surge , but not knowing the population density where it struck, it would not surprise me if there are many more bodies (sadly)
What I do wonder about is this statement in one online report
"Waves up to 3m (10ft) high swept through the city on Sulawesi island at a speed of almost 500mph ."
500mph!
I know it was fast moving, but that is ridiculous.
That's the speed of a tsunami in very deep water. They're very low waves with an incredible wavelength, hence the travel speed. Once they shoal in shallower water, they slow down to 'normal' speeds and stand up.
Thanks Island I didn't think about that aspect.
BMKG are saying that Warning was still in place at time the Tsunami Struck.(Big Call)
Palu Tidal Wave we see here is travelling at 800km/hr and reached 6m high
Natural to race off the beach and up into a new high rise ...good plan?
1000's of 4 story buildings toppled...Complete Shopping Malls wiped out.
2 km's back from Shoreline.... Brand new 4 story Hospital wrecked.
Further up river a Brand New 8 story Hotel destroyed.
Good reason to believe that earlier Earthquake weakened the foundations.
Tsunami made light work of the glorified rubble.
Consider Tsunami took out power on nightfall...you can see why the high toll.
Possible also that nearby Palu River A Framed Tsunami to said 6 metre height.
The Tsunami trashed beautiful twin arched yellow Palu bridge.
These arches were 20m high steel cabled A1 engineered.
Earthquake/Tsunami turned iconic yellow bridge into alphabet spaghetti
Palu River may have also flushed out the poor souls onto adjacent river mouth beach.
It is said most bodies lie on Talise Beach.
Earthquake already damaged Airport Runway + Tower (emergency use only)
So I'm guessing none could fly clear from Tsunami even if Alert was in place.
Pray for Palu region whole is all they ask!
Pray for all those suffering in the world. The power of prayer will lessen the effect of these upheavals. Absolutely horrific, you would be shattered and devastated going through a tsunami like that. Peace to the souls who did not make it.
BMKG now admit tide gauge was too far from Earthquake...
ABC Reports of Tsunami reaching 10 metres.
Pilot SurfCam Gif of Earthquake kick starting 2 Tsunamis.
We may require some swellnet tech crew assistance...
In the meantime try this address or long link...(Sorry... best I can do!)
Tribun style.com 30/Sept 2018 10:29 (Page 2 of 3) Scroll down 1st photo >> Play
The address link is long but I'll give it a go...
style.tribunnews.com/2018/09/30/viral-video-tsunami-palu-menerjang-direkam-pilot-batik-air-di-udara-lihat-pergerakan-airnya?page2
The wall of water coming in on the first clip looked very powerful, fast and bigger than 2 metres, hope everyone was off street level at this time.
Are we seeing increase in these type of incidents, or just the www communicates everything far more fully these days.
Thank you TBB for the extra reporting
My thoughts are with the people there, be safe
SBS have the same eerie pilot footage...not promising anything..
www.sbs.com.au/news/indonesia-earthquake-air-traffic-controller-dies-aft...
Heavy heavy scenes. So sad.
Most plausible explanation I’ve seen so far.
Full video, terrifying :(
BMKG admit their monitor was nowhere near Palu Bay.
(Current BMKG/Oz conference will note that up front!)
Fortunately they can access Pilot's camera/Flight data for Time readout of Wave Start.
Pilot did well to focus on shot of Tsunami rising while plane was climbing...That's Priceless!
Combine this with harrowing landfall video timers.(Very few cameras but expert timing!)
Videos should serve them well for exact wave speed if all hell breaks lose again.
Easy to say but difficult to watch!
It seems as though the narrow streets re-form the wave's to monstrous 7-10m heights.
Survivors from the streets show the lofty damage then speak of very large waves.
The damage to 4 story buildings seems horrific, most notably the top floors.
New 10 story building that toppled was higher up, it must have fallen with Earthquake
Australia sends Love.