Smartphone catches the tsunami hitting Palu, Indonesia, leaving 48 dead and hundreds injured

Hundreds remain injured, several people have been reported missing and 48 people have died in the tsunami-hit tourist resort of Palu, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, the country’s disaster agency has said. The full extent of damage remains unknown.

The tsunami up to two meters tall swept way houses in Palu, the capital of central Sulawesi province. It also struck a smaller city, Donggala, closest to the epicenter of the quake 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. More than 6,00,000 people live in Palu and Donggala.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said communications had been cut in both cities.

A smartphone video circulating on social media showed a powerful wave hitting Palu, with people screaming and fleeing in panic. The wave damaged several buildings including a mosque.

Tsunami warning lifted

"The 1.5- to 2-meter tsunami has receded," said Dwikorita Karnawati, who heads Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency, BMKG. "It ended. The situation is chaotic, people are running on the streets and buildings collapsed. There is a ship washed ashore."

The agency issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it within the hour.

Indonesia, which is located on the "Ring of Fire," is prone to earthquakes.

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the island of Sumatra triggered what was dubbed the ‘Boxing Day tsunami’ across the Indian Ocean, killing nearly 2,30,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 1,20,000 in Indonesia.

Inputs by NH Web Desk and PTI