Breaking: 7.4 Earthquakes Sends Massive Tsunami Into Indonesia

The city of Palu, Indonesia, was devastated by a tsunami shortly after 8pm on September 28th. The wall of water, which some reports are placing at up to 3 meters high, arrived in the wake of a pair of large earthquakes.

According to the Associated Press:

A powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the tsunami hit Palu, the capital of central Sulawesi province, as well as the smaller city of Donggala and several other coastal settlements.

The chief of the meteorology and geophysics agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said the tsunami waves were up to 3 meters (10 feet) high. She said the tsunami warning triggered by the biggest quake, in place for about half an hour, was lifted after the tsunami was over.

Sutopo said the military was deploying troops to Palu and Donggala and the national police were also mobilizing to help the emergency response, as well as personnel from the search-and-rescue and disaster agencies.

“People are encouraged to remain vigilant,” Sutopo said. “It is better not to be in a house or building because the potential for aftershocks can be dangerous. People are encouraged to gather in safe areas. Avoid the slopes of hills.”

Palu’s airport halted operations for 24 hours due to earthquake damage, according to AirNav, which oversees airline traffic in Indonesia.

Social media is flooding with videos and photos of the wave and the following destruction, though authorities claim that some of them appear to be falsified.

Despite official reports that the tsunami warning remained in place until the waters had receded, multiple sources are reporting that it had been lifted approximately thirty minutes before the wave struck.