A tsunami crashed into the city of Palu in the island of Sulawesi on Friday after two earthquakes, measuring 7.7 and 6.1 on the Richter scale, rocked the central Indonesian island earlier in the day.
Video footage of the tsunami hitting the city is being circulated on social media, wherein a number of restaurants near the Palu Grand Mall can be seen being swept away by the waves, The Jakarta Post reported.
The footages also show the Baiturrahman Mosque, located right next to the mall, which was heavily damaged by the earthquakes, being flooded.
A Central Sulawesi Museum official - Iksam, confirmed the incident to the Jakarta Post, saying, "Yes, there was a smashing of seawater," before the connection was severed.
Earlier today, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale hit the island. According to the National and Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the quake originated 10 km deep, 27 km northeast of the Central Sulawesi town of Donggala.
This came in the wake of a 6.1 magnitude temblor jolting the island earlier in the day, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others. Dozens of houses were also collapsed as a result.
The archipelago nation of Indonesia is situated in the Ring of Fire, an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, vulnerable to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In December 2004, a devastating 9.1 magnitude quake off the Sumatra island triggered strong tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean, killing over two lakh people in dozens of countries, including India and Sri Lanka.
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