Powerful quake and tsunami wreak havoc in Indonesia; over 384 killed | SEE PICS

The death toll from Indonesia's quake and tsunami jumped to 384, the disaster agency said on Saturday, reported news agency AFP.

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.

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.

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.

Communications with the area are difficult because power and telecommunications are cut, hampering search and rescue efforts.

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.