The Jakarta Post / Asia News Network
Mobile phone footage showing a tidal wave hitting a coastal area has been circulating online after a series of strong earthquakes rocked Central Sulawesi on Friday.
The footage purportedly shows a number of small restaurants near the Palu Grand Mall swept away by the wave, which some have referred to as a tsunami online.
It also shows the water hitting the heavily damaged Baiturrahman Mosque located next to the mall.
The Jakarta Post could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, but a Google Maps search of the Palu Grand Mall and Baiturrahman Mosque resulted in images that match the landscape and landmarks shown in the video.
Iksam, an official of the Central Sulawesi Museum in Palu, confirmed the event to The Jakarta Post. “Yes, there was a smashing of seawater,” he said, before the phone connection broke down.
I just opened my watsap grup and This Tsunami seen on Palu, Sulawesi. They recorded this in the top floor of the mall. Our friend's family confirmed this.. #PrayForDonggala Celebes Sulawesi Indonesia 🙏 pic.twitter.com/vlTmDjCp3h
— WID⁷ (@wjjeje) September 28, 2018
An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter magnitude scale rocked Central Sulawesi shortly after a 6.0-magnitude quake killed one and injured at least 10 people in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, on Friday afternoon.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had issued but then quickly revoked a tsunami warning after the strong earthquake occurred at 5:02 p.m. Jakarta time, only a few hours after the first earthquake.
The USGS website mentions a 7.5-magnitude quake.
National and Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a release on Friday that the quake hit the area about 27 kilometers north east of Donggala, at a depth of 10 km.
The earthquake was larger in magnitude than the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, which measured 6.4 in magnitude, and the recent 7.0-magnitude Lombok earthquake in August. /jpv