Powerful earthquakes rocks Sulawesi island, destroys homes

A collapsed house in Donggala, Central Sulawesi. Pic/AFP

Powerful earthquakes jolted the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, destroying houses and killing at least one person. An official said widespread damage was expected.

The US Geological Survey said the strongest quake had a magnitude of 7.5 and was centred northeast of the central Sulawesi town of Donggala. It briefly triggered a tsunami warning. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said communications with the region are disrupted. He said in a statement there is "much damage" in the Donggala area, which is home to about 3,00,000 people. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," in the Pacific Basin.

Tsunami in Palu
The Indonesian city of Palu was slammed by waves from a tsunami set off by a powerful earthquake that rippled across the region, the disaster agency said, as the huge tremor destroyed buildings and sent panicked residents fleeing into the streets. "A tsunami has happened in Palu," said Rahmat Triyono, head of the agency's earthquake and tsunami division, referring to the city of 350,000 nearly 80 kilometres from the quake's epicentre.

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