Powerful quake and tsunami rattle Indonesia; over 384 killed | SEE PICS
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The death toll from Indonesia's quake and tsunami jumped to 384, the disaster agency said on Saturday, reported news agency AFP.
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The tsunami was triggered by a strong quake measuring 7.5 magnitude in Richter scale that brought down several buildings and sent locals fleeing their homes for higher ground.
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Palu, which has more than 380,000 people, was strewn with debris from collapsed buildings. A mosque heavily damaged by the quake was half submerged and a shopping mall was reduced to a crumpled hulk. Bodies lay partially covered by tarpaulins and a man carried a dead child through the wreckage.
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In the nearby city of Donggala, home to nearly 300,000 people, a large bridge with yellow arches that spanned a coastal river had collapsed.
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Communications with the area are difficult because power and telecommunications are cut, hampering search and rescue efforts.
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Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo on Friday night said he had instructed the security minister to coordinate the government’s response to a quake and tsunami that hit central Sulawesi.