Earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, Indonesia - at least 1763 people killed, 5000 feared missing

Created September 28, 2018 Last update October 7, 2018 09:24 By

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Sunday October 7 : Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing.

Update 15:30 UTC:

Update 14:37 UTC: The number of people known to have died in Indonesia in Friday's earthquake and tsunami has risen to 1347, disaster response officials say.

Update 17:49 UTC: Emergency crews are still trying to find victims of an earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, killing at least 1,200 people, according to local media citing government officials.

Update 15:04 UTC: a well made overview from UN OCHA

Update 14:29 UTC: Indonesian President Jokowi in front of the terrible rubble

Update 21:17 UTC: Temblor article of Dr. Jay Patton for those wanting to know more of the tectonics. Click on the image to read to complete article

Update 17:58 UTC: Head of BNPB warns people NOT to believe in earthquake predictions.
Hoaxes threat of earthquake and tsunami began to spread in Palu City and other areas.
People are restless.
Please receive information like this ABAIKAN. This is HOAX. There is no country in the world and science and technology is capable of predicting earthquakes with certainty.

Update 17:07 UTC: Displacements of 6-8m !!!!!! on a NNW-SSE east dipping sinistral fault.

Update 08:00 UTC: On this video you can see the first tsunami wave and swell entering the beach communities. People are not aware of the tsunami and only evacuate after screaming from other people who see arriving the tsunami in the distance.

Update 07:56 UTC: At least 50 people were killed in this building alone

Update 07:51 UTC: Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference Sunday that the death toll had more than doubled to 832, with nearly all of those killed in Palu. He said there were still not comprehensive reports about casualties in surrounding coastal areas.

Update 17:46 UTC: Seismologists are still searching for the origin of the tsunami. Many specialists are currently analysing data like Dr. Jay Patton is mentioning below.

 

Update 15:01 UTC: Pictures we know from other tsunami stricken coasts like Japan, Chile and Indonesia

Update 14:59 UTC: Aerial pictures of Indonesia's Civil service BNPB of the tsunami devastation in Palu, Sulawesi

Update 13:38 UTC: A lot of people are still unaccounted for as it is feared that they have been washed out in the sea. We at ER fear that the final toll may even reach approx. 1000 as in similar earlier earthquakes the early toll had to be multiplied by 2.5 to 4. Lets hope that we are wrong.

BREAKING Update 09:21 UTC: The death toll may rise a lot higher as the fate of tens or even hundreds of people present at the Palu Beach Festival is still unknown. Only 4 corpses were found. As the tsunami, who was triggered almost on the coast itself, might have struck after only a couple of minutes many people may have been pulled into the sea :((((((

Update 09:03 UTC: The death toll is NOT the final toll as at least 21 persons are still missing. Almost all of the death persons are tsunami victims.

Update 08:12 UTC: Dr. Jay Patton wrotre in his report :
Using empirical relations for historic earthquakes compiled by Wells and Coppersmith (1994), Socquet et al. (2016) suggest that the Palu-Koro fault system could produce a magnitude M 7 earthquake once per century. However, studies of prehistoric earthquakes along this fault system suggest that, over the past 2000 years, this fault produces a magnitude M 7-8 earthquake every 700 years (Bellier et al., 2006). So, it appears that this is the characteristic earthquake we might expect along this fault.

Update 08:03 UTC: The ultimate explanatory earthquake poster from this earthquake comes from geologist Dr. Jay Patton. Click on the image to be linked to his site. The poster contains lots of important scientific information and can be viewed in full format in his site. Dr Jay Patton is gifted with the ability to translate hard to understand scientific material into easy, everyday language (through texts and images).

Update 08:03 UTC:

Update 08:08 UTC: A small part of the tsunami beach showing the rubble after the devastating flood + bodies covered with blue sheets

Update 07:57 UTC: Potential aftershock impact as modelled by Andreas Schäfer, Cedim, Catnews, Karsruhe, Germany
Aftershochs up to M5+ are still hammering the region

Important update : Death toll caused by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Indonesia has jumped to 384, authorities said

Update : Pictures of the devastating local landslide underwater tsunami which happened at relatively far from the epicenter. Earthquake specialists did know the risk for underwater landslides as it happened before. The destruction reminds us of the Banda Aceh tsunami in 2004.

Update 07:39 UTC: Strange situation yesterday as the epicenter was below land and could eventually generate limited water swells and/or a minor tsunami up to 1 meter but not de destruction we have seen on the video's. Below a translated tweet mentioning an underwater landslide as the main reason.
Analysis of tsunami experts while dsri ITB based on modeling studies and before that a tsunami in the hammer caused by underwater avalanches during the 7.7 SR rocked the Donggala. Gulf coastal Donggala and Palu is indeed prone to tsunamis. Still do the study again.

Update 23:44 UTC: a bridge in Palu before and after the earthquake. It was flooded after the tsunami

Update 23:39 UTC: VIDEO - Tsunami waves of 3 meter crashed into a village destroying everything on its path. People were alerted by a tsunami akarlm that a tsunami might be coming. So far no indication of victims from the tsunami but for sure if people were caught into it they would not survive. Other reports are speaking of tsunami's of 6 meter.

Update 21:15 UTC: Latest number of fatalities is 7

IMPORTANT Update 15:52 UTC: sad to tell our readers that at least 6 people have been killed due to this earthquake

Update 12:52 UTC: Hard to check whether this was today's tsunami but based on other data it could be indeed the case

https://twitter.com/CholinsM/status/1045657042852098049

Update 12:45 UTC: Misery misery misery ... One house on this video has apparently collapsed.

Update 11:16 UTC: Sad to report that the earlier M6 earthquake did kill 1 person and injured 10 others. At least 1 house was destroyed. No numbers yet of the M7.5 earthquake

Update 11:00 UTC: Tsunami waves and surge are expected to be max. 0.9 meter

Update 10:56 UTC: the focal mechanism of this earthquake reflects the worst type, a strike slip mechanism

Update 10:55 UTC: Main earth movement based on the current focal mechanism.
People who experienced the shaking can easily determine which of both fault planes is the right one.
Images courtesy Observatoire Geoscope

Update 10:54 UTC: a whole series of moderate to strong aftershocks are hammering the epicenter region

Update 10:53 UTC: First video of people running outside their houses and praying to their God

Update 10:47 UTC: Seismogram as recorded in a seismological station in Sulawesi

Update 10:41 UTC: A local TSUNAMI alert has been called in Indonesia. NO alert for the pacific

Update 10:30 UTC: Luckily the earthquake happened during the day which means that many people were out of their houses. Before this massive earthquake, another very strong earthquake occurred in the same region which may had already an effect that people were hiding outside of their houses out of fear for aftershocks.

Update 10:27 UTC: Shaking impact on nearby cities and villages and on the population in MMI (Modified Mercalli scaled).
20,000 people may have experienced the dangerous severe shaking.

Update 10:26 UTC: USGS shaking map

Update 10:25 UTC: Severe shaking MMI VIII must have been experienced following USGS

Update 10:20 UTC: Shaking map with possible related damage from the natural disaster specialists at CATnews (Risklayer - CEDIM), Karlsruhe, Germany. Map generated by Andreas Schäfer.

Update 10:14 UTC: More in a moment ... collecting more information but it looks very grimm to me

Update 10:13 UTC: Based on the present earthquake parameters (Magnitude, Depth, Population, etc) and our experience with earthquake damage impact, earthquake-report.com calls this earthquake extremely dangerous and expects injuries and serious damage

Map courtesy Alomax.free.net - Star: calculated epicenter - Small red dots: possible error margin for the epicenter, the more dense, the higher probability that the epicenter will be in that area. Orange circle: epicenter location error zone

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 7.5

Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

GMT/UTC Time : 2018-09-28 10:02:44

Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km

Depth and Magnitude updates in the list below.

Share your earthquake experience (I Have Felt It) with our readers.
Click on the "I Felt It" button behind the corresponding earthquake. Your earthquake experience is not only important for science, but also for people in the area as well as our global readership.

Refresh this list
SRC Location UTC Date/time M D INFO
EMSC Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 21:24 5.0 20 MAP I Felt It INFO
  • Tentena - Strong shaking during main earthquake (29 Sept), and light shaking throughout the night and into the morning (30 Sept) as aftershocks were felt.
    		•
    GEOFON Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 21:24 4.9 10 MAP
    USGS Kasiguncu, Indonesia Sep 28 20:34 4.4 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Kasiguncu, Indonesia Sep 28 17:05 4.6 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    EMSC Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 15:35 4.9 10 MAP
    GEOFON Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 15:35 4.9 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 15:35 5.0 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 15:28 4.9 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 15:28 5.1 10 MAP
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 15:28 5.1 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 14:26 5.2 40 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 14:26 5.2 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 14:26 5.4 30 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 14:10 4.7 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 14:10 4.8 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 13:39 5.2 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 13:35 5.7 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 13:35 5.6 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 13:10 4.7 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 13:10 4.8 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
  • Makassar - Ong. 30 seconden. Geen schade.
    		•
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 12:39 4.7 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 12:27 5.1 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 12:27 5.5 10 MAP
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 12:27 5.1 40 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 12:05 4.7 10 MAP
    GEOFON Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 11:06 5.1 10 MAP
    EMSC Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 11:06 5.2 36 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 11:06 5.2 10 MAP
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 10:50 5.1 40 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:50 5.7 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:50 5.7 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 10:47 5.1 30 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:47 5.1 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:47 5.0 10 MAP
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 10:39 5.4 65 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:39 5.4 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:39 5.4 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:25 5.7 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:25 5.8 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:16 5.7 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:16 5.7 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:14 5.8 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:14 5.8 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 10:02 7.5 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 10:02 7.5 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 09:57 4.8 10 MAP
    EMSC Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia Sep 28 08:24 5.0 30 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 08:24 5.0 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
  • Donggala - Light shaking
    		•
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 08:24 5.0 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 07:28 5.0 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 07:28 4.9 10 MAP
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 07:03 5.4 10 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 07:03 5.3 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
    USGS Palu, Indonesia Sep 28 07:00 6.1 18 MAP
    GEOFON Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi Sep 28 07:00 6.0 10 MAP I Felt It INFO
  • Tanjung Karang, Donggala - Moderate shaking
    		•

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    SHARE YOUR EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE WITH US

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    City/Village where you felt the earthquake *
    Street or suburb (area) where you felt the earthquake
    Latitude (area) where you felt the earthquake
    Longitude (area) where you felt the earthquake
    Shaking Strength *
    MMI II (Very weak shaking) ?
    People :
    Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
    MMI III (Weak shaking) ?
    People :
    Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
    MMI IV (Light shaking) ?
    People :
    Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
    Fittings :
    Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
    Structures :
    Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
    MMI V (Moderate shaking) ?
    People :
    Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
    Fittings :
    Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
    Structures :
    Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
    MMI VI (Strong shaking) ?
    People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
    Fittings :
    Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
    Structures :
    Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
    Environment :
    Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
    MMI VII (Very strong shaking) ?
    People
    General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
    Fittings :
    Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
    Structures :
    Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
    Environment :
    Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
    MMI VIII (Severe shaking) ?
    People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
    MMI IX (Violent shaking) ?
    Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
    Tell us your experience and how many seconds the shaking lasted + let us know if your property has been damaged (even slight damage). (max. 500 characters)
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    Filed Under: 2018, Damaging earthquakes, Dangerous earthquakes, earthquakes, Earthquakes with injured people, Info, M +7 quakes