Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth.It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
At least 400 people were killed, many swept away as giant waves crashed onto beaches, when a major earthquake and tsunami hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, authorities said on Saturday.
Hundreds had gathered for a festival on the beach in the city of Palu on Friday when waves as high as six metres (18 feet) smashed onshore at dusk, sweeping many to their death and destroying anything in their path, following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
There are also fears for thousands of people who were believed to be at a beach festival at the time the tsunami struck land.
“Many bodies were found along the shoreline because of the tsunami, but the numbers are still unknown.”President Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit evacuation centres in Palu on Sunday.
Damaged roads and broken lines of communication hampered rescue efforts as team attempt to reach devastated areas.
The city is built around a narrow bay that apparently magnified the force of the tsunami waters as they raced into the tight inlet.
Hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured, with many people being treated in the open air, while other survivors helped to retrieve the remains of those who died.
The main airport in Palu, capital of South Sulawesi province, was shut after the tsunami struck and was expected to stay closed for at least 24 hours, complicating any disaster relief efforts.
The Ring of Fire is home to around 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the word’s largest earthquakes. The Ring of Fire was created from the movement and collisions of tectonic plates.
Indonesia’s meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the quake, but lifted it 34 minutes later.
The agency on Saturday was widely criticised for not informing that a tsunami had hit Palu, though officials said waves had come within the time the warning was issued.
The quake and tsunami caused a major power outage that cut communications around Palu making it difficult for authorities to coordinate rescue efforts.
