Food and fuel shortage were marked as priority concerns by Indonesian authorities on Monday as rescuers continued to hunt for survivors in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that killed 832 people in Sulawesi island.

Hundreds of people, screaming for food, jostled outside the Itudulaka military command 132, in the center of the provincial capital Palu on Monday.</s>JAKARTA, Indonesia — Catholic aid agencies were among those working to assess the needs and get relief to the island of Sulawesi after an earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,400 people dead.

Among those killed were 34 Christian students trapped while attending a Bible class. Fifty-two other students remained missing in Jono Oge village, reported ucanews.com.

“They are Catholic and Protestant students who were on a retreat in the location when the earthquake occurred, causing the church to collapse,” said Albert Podung, a church worker who lives in Palu, the coastal city devastated by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami Sept. 28.

Aulia Arriani, an Indonesian Red Cross official, said the Red Cross volunteer team was having difficulty reaching the location as roads were damaged and terrain had turned to mud.

“The area is still isolated,” she said. “The land is covered with mud, and volunteers must walk nearly one and a half hours to carry the corpses to ambulances.”

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said Oct. 3 the earthquake and tsunami had killed more than 1,400 people and injured 2,500 others. More than 120 people were still missing.

Yenni Suryani, country manager for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. church’s international relief and development agency, said humanitarian groups were struggling to get aid to people in the hard-hit cities of Palu and Donggala.

“With the airport damaged, getting access to Palu and Donggala is a huge problem,” Suryani said. “Responders and local aid groups are having to drive overland 10-12 hours. That means a bottleneck for relief supplies in coming days. Landslides are hindering road travel in some places. There’s very limited electricity in Palu, but power is out almost everywhere. Some mobile phone towers have been repaired allowing limited communication, but it’s unreliable.”

Catholic Relief Services and Malteser International were among Catholic aid agencies sending emergency response teams to Indonesia.

Father Joy Derry Clement, chairman of the Socio-Economic Commission of Manado Diocese in North Sulawesi, told ucanews.com some parishes in the area were hit heavily, and at least two churches in Palu were partially destroyed.

“Their walls are cracked. In some cases, heavy steel pillars have become detached from their brackets,” he said, adding a number of priests suffered minor injuries due to the quake.

“We’ve formed team that will be sent to Palu soon to assess the situation there. I’ve also set up a logistics team in the commission’s office where material aid from local Catholics can be collected,” he said.

At least 500 priests, nuns, seminarians and lay Catholics had been relocated to the compound of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish without tents since the disaster, he added.

Ucanews.com reported that Anthonius Gunawan Agung, a 22-year-old Catholic air-controller at Palu’s airport, has been posthumously hailed as a hero for ensuring flight safety as the earthquake hit.

After making sure that Batik Air flight 6231 had taken off safely, Agung jumped out of the four-story control tower and suffered serious internal injuries, Channel NewsAsia reported. He later died from his injuries.

“Thank you for keeping me and guarding me till I’m safely airborne,” the pilot wrote on Instagram, describing Agung as “my guardian angel.”

At the Vatican, Pope Francis prayed for Indonesians after he recited the Angelus Sept. 30.

He prayed “for the deceased … for the wounded, and for those who have lost their homes and employment. May the Lord console them and sustain the efforts of those who are taking part in the relief efforts.”</s>On Friday, a huge earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, unleashing a 20-foot tsunami on the eastern side of the island.



More than 800 people have been killed following the earthquake and tsunami, but officials say at least 1,200 people are believed to be dead.



Shocking footage shows huge waves engulfing the town, sweeping away buildings and cars in its path.



Friday's earthquake comes 14 years after Indonesia's deadliest tremor in 2014, which killed more than 230,000 people across the island.



On Boxing Day in 2014, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck the norther tip of Sumatra in Indonesia, sending an 80-foot tsunami barrelling towards Indonesia's coast.



The impact of the Boxing Day tsunami is still felt today, as the country continues to recover from its devastating aftermath.



Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis because of its unlucky position on the world map.



The country lies on the edge of three major continental plates - the Pacific, the Eurasian, the Indo-Australian plates and much smaller Philippine plate.



The Southeast Asian country also lies within the Pacific "Ring of fire", located in the Pacific Ocean where 90 percent of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.



CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said: "Plate tectonics and the Ring of Fire are the main reasons why Indonesia has so many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.



"The earth below them is constantly changing and constantly moving."



Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates within the earth's crust collide with each other, releasing built up pressure that results in massive tremors.

Meanwhile, tsunamis are caused by any abrupt movement on the ocean floor - usually when plates slide against each other - causing the water above to move and trigger huge waves.



Many residents in Indonesia live on low-lying coasts, making them particularly vulnerable to tsunamis.



Several communities also live near major volcanoes on the island - which lie on the edges of tectonic plates - and the areas are prone to tremors.



Some volcanoes also lie on the notorious "Ring of fire", including Mount Rinjani on Lombok.



Earlier in August, a 7.0 earthquake struck the Lombok region, killing a total of 319 people and injuring thousands.



A series of natural disasters over the years has sent Indonesia's economy back by millions, as the government continues to scramble over the earthquakes' devastating aftermath.



Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters today: "The evacuation is not finished yet, there are many places where the evacuation couldn't be done because of the absence of heavy equipment, but last night equipment started to arrive.



"We'll send as much food supplies as possible today with Hercules planes, directly from Jakarta."</s>Deadly 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia, triggered a tsunami in Palu last week. The death toll has risen to 800, officials have warned of numbers increasing.Indonesia is preparing a mass grave to bury its dead in the aftermath of earthquake. The government has declared a 14-day state of emergency in Sulawesi Island.</s>A mass burial of earthquake and tsunami victims was being prepared in a hard-hit city Monday as the need for heavy equipment to dig for survivors of the disaster that struck a central Indonesian island three days ago grows desperate.

The toll of more than 800 dead is largely from the city of Palu and is expected to rise as areas cut off by the damage are reached. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck at dusk Friday and spawned a tsunami said to have been as high as 6 meters (20 feet) in places.

The grave being dug in Palu for 300 victims will be 10 meters by 100 meters (33 feet by 330 feet) in size and can be enlarged if needed, said Willem Rampangilei, chief of Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

"This must be done as soon as possible for health and religious reasons," he said. Indonesia is majority Muslim, and religious custom calls for burials soon after death, typically within one day.

Military and commercial aircraft were delivering some aid and supplies to the region. But there was a desperate need for heavy equipment to reach possible survivors buried in collapsed buildings, including an eight-story hotel in Palu where voices were heard in the rubble. A 25-year-old woman was found alive Sunday evening in the ruins of the Roa-Roa Hotel, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency, which released photos of the her lying on a stretcher covered in a blanket.

At least 832 people were confirmed dead as of Sunday evening, Indonesia's disaster agency said, with nearly all of those from Palu. The regencies of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong — with a combined population of 1.2 million — had yet to be fully assessed.

"The death toll is believed to be still increasing, since many bodies were still under the wreckage, while many have not been reached," said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

The cries from beneath the Roa-Roa Hotel, which appeared to have toppled over with its walls splintered like pickup sticks, went silent by Sunday afternoon. Officials had estimated about 50 people could be inside.

"We are trying our best. Time is so important here to save people," said Muhammad Syaugi, head of the national search and rescue team. "Heavy equipment is on the way."

Metro TV showed about a dozen rescuers in orange jumpsuits climbing over debris with a stretcher carrying the body of a victim from the modest business hotel.

Other rescuers worked to free a 15-year-old girl trapped under concrete in her house in Palu after it collapsed on her family during the earthquake. Unable to move her legs under the rubble, Nurul Istikharah was trapped beside her dead mother and niece. Rescuers also tried to control water from a leaking pipe, fearing she would drown.

Istikharah was unconscious during part of the effort to free her, but rescuers kept talking to her to try to keep her awake. Others offered her food and water.

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo toured Palu on Sunday and said rescuers were having difficulty reaching victims because of a shortage of heavy equipment.

"There are many challenges," Jokowi said. "We have to do many things soon, but conditions do not allow us to do so."

He said authorities were deploying more heavy machinery so emergency workers can help recover more victims Monday.

The stricken areas also needed medical supplies, fuel, fresh water and experts.

It was the latest natural disaster to hit Indonesia, which is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. More recently, a powerful quake on the island of Lombok killed 505 people in August.

In Donggala, the site closest to the earthquake's epicenter, aerial footage on Metro TV showed the sugary blond sands of beaches swept out to sea, along with some buildings. Some buildings in the town were severely damaged, with plywood walls shredded and chunks of concrete scattered on the pavement. Much of the damage, however, appeared limited to the waterfront.

Palu, which has more than 380,000 people, was strewn with debris from the earthquake and tsunami. A heavily damaged mosque was half submerged and a shopping mall was reduced to a crumpled hulk. A large bridge with yellow arches had collapsed.

The city is built around a narrow bay that apparently magnified the force of the tsunami as the waves raced into the tight inlet. Nugroho, the disaster agency spokesman, said waves were reported as high as 6 meters (20 feet) in some places.

Looters hit a badly damaged shopping mall, apparently unconcerned for their safety amid ongoing aftershocks and the structure's questionable stability.

In one devastated area in Palu, residents said dozens of people could still be buried in their homes.

"The ground rose up like a spine and suddenly fell. Many people were trapped and buried under collapsed houses. I could do nothing to help," resident Nur Indah said, crying. "In the evening, some of them turned on their cellphones just to give a sign that they were there. But the lights were off later and the next day."

Nugroho said 61 foreigners were in Palu at the time of the disaster. Most were accounted for, but one South Korean was believed to be trapped in the Roa-Roa Hotel, while three others from France and one from Malaysia were missing. The survivors were to be evacuated to the Sulawesi city of Makassar in the island's far south.

Indonesia is a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that span a distance that would stretch from New York to London. It is home to 260 million people. Roads and infrastructure are poor in many areas, making access difficult in the best of conditions.

The disaster agency has said that essential aircraft can land at Palu's airport, though AirNav, which oversees aircraft navigation, said the runway was cracked and the control tower damaged.

Sulawesi has a history of religious tensions between Muslims and Christians, with violent riots erupting in the town of Poso, not far from Palu, two decades ago. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country.

Associated Press writers Margie Mason in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Stephen Wright in Makassar, Indonesia, contributed to this report.</s>Four days after an earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia, more than 1,200 are confirmed dead and nearly 800 are badly injured, according to national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Palu, population 380,000, is the biggest affected city in the region and has been heavily damaged, as seen in photos from DigitalGlobe, a satellite imaging company. Images also show neighboring communities, where many remain trapped, have been swamped by mud and waters.

epa07063067 Debris litters a street at a tsunami affected area in Wani, Donggala, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 02 October 2018. According to reports, at least 1,234 people have died after a series of powerful earthquakes hit Central Sulawesi on 28 September 2018 and triggered a tsunami.

TOPSHOT - A survivor walks under a car struck on a building in Palu, Indonesia's Central Sulawesi on October 1, 2018, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28. - Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on October 1, victims of a quake-tsunami that devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster.

Rescuers carry an earthquake survivor from a building damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.

Rescuers try to rescue Nurul Istikharah, 15, from her damaged house following earthquakes and a tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Sept. 30, 2018.

Medical team members help patients outside a hospital after an earthquake and a tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island.</s>The tsunami that struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island last week has proven devastating. With death tolls in the mid-800s and still rising, the true devastation of the tidal wave will not be known for weeks, and possibly months. In its aftermath, the Indonesian government has made a stunning admission: The tsunami early warning system in place around Sulawesi has not been working for six years.

The warning system, a network of 22 buoys attached to seafloor sensors, is supposed to transfer data to the Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency known as BMKG. That's not what happened, leaving many people without sufficient warning for the natural disaster.

The Indonesian government has come under severe criticism for how its warning system acted under the crisis. After a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck with an epicenter off the coast of Sulawesi, the government issued a tsunami warning. However, it was rescinded after just 34 minutes. While the government notes that the tsunami's third and final wave hit right before the warning ending, the larger issue of warning awareness looms large in the recovery.

"Our [current] tools are very lacking," says Rahmat Triyono, the BMKG's head of earthquake and tsunamis, speaking to BBC Indonesian.

"In fact, of the 170 earthquake sensors we have, we only have a maintenance budget for 70 sensors."

A spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho confirmed Triyono's comments during a press conference on Sunday, saying that "If we look at the funding [for emergency awareness], it has decreased every year."

The buoys provided an opportunity for crucial early warning signs. They were put in place after a similar disaster—the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. After killing approximately 150,000 people, the government invested in buoys, thousands of kilometers of undersea cable, undersea seismometers and pressure sensors in hopes of shaving valuable minutes off the response time.

This isn't the first time this new buoys system has failed. In 2016, all 22 buoys were again useless in the face of a tsunami caused due to a 7.8 earthquake. At the time, Nugroho said that the buoys were inoperable due to either vandalism or lack of funds for maintenance.

It appears that nothing has changed within two years. As Indonesia works to rebuild after the disaster, some are wondering if a tsunami warning system even serves a purpose anymore. Rather than offering a warning of some potential disaster, some experts say, the government should try to focus on getting the world out about evacuation first and foremost.

"What Indonesian colleagues have commented upon is that people were confused about what to do with the alert information," says Gavin Sullivan, a Coventry University psychologist who works with the Indonesian Resilience Initiative on a disaster preparation, speaking to the Australian ABC News. The 34-minute alert only went to text messages, meaning that many people at the beach where the tsunami struck were unaware of the impending disaster until it was too late.



"This points to the failing to do appropriate training and to develop trust so that people know exactly what to do when an alert is issued," says Sullivan.</s>Four days after an earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia, more than 1,200 are confirmed dead and nearly 800 are badly injured, according to national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Palu, population 380,000, is the biggest affected city in the region and has been heavily damaged, as seen in photos from DigitalGlobe, a satellite imaging company. Images also show neighboring communities, where many remain trapped, have been swamped by mud and waters.

epa07063067 Debris litters a street at a tsunami affected area in Wani, Donggala, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 02 October 2018. According to reports, at least 1,234 people have died after a series of powerful earthquakes hit Central Sulawesi on 28 September 2018 and triggered a tsunami.

TOPSHOT - A survivor walks under a car struck on a building in Palu, Indonesia's Central Sulawesi on October 1, 2018, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28. - Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on October 1, victims of a quake-tsunami that devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster.

Rescuers carry an earthquake survivor from a building damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.

Rescuers try to rescue Nurul Istikharah, 15, from her damaged house following earthquakes and a tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Sept. 30, 2018.

Medical team members help patients outside a hospital after an earthquake and a tsunami hit Palu, on Sulawesi island.</s>Mount Soputan has erupted on the disaster-struck Indonesian island where an earthquake and tsunami struck just days earlier, claiming the lives of at least 1,400 people. The volcano emitted a 6,000-metre column of ash at 8.47am local time (1.47am BST) on Wednesday morning and prompted authorities to raise the volcano’s status to Level 3 of the four-level national volcano alert system. Days before the eruption, Mount Soputan as showing signs of restlessness, according to volcanologists in the region. Soputan is one of the island’s most active volcanoes and the Smithsonian Institution has identified it is a complex volcano, with free-flowing, stream-like basaltic lava, but it can also produce explosive eruptions. Here are the latest updates (all times in BST which is six hours behind Indonesia).

An Indonesian government volcanologist has said he suspects Wednesday's eruption was caused by Friday's 7.5-magnitude earthquake. Those in the area have been put on standby alert, meaning they should avoid going toward the volcano and have face masks available in case of ash fall. The volcano last erupted in 2016, and is one of Sulawesi's most active volcanoes erupting some 39 times in the last 600 years.

11.54am update: Eruption comes days after deadly quake and tsunami The eruption comes less than a week after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the same island and triggered a major tsunami. The quake and tsunami has so far claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and displaced more than 60,000 people in Central Sulawesi. Mount Soputan is located about 900km north-east of the area ravaged but the quake. Officials fear the death toll from the quake could rise and many areas remain largely cut off and people could be trapped under rubble. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said on Tuesday: “We hope the death toll does not rise. “We’re continuing rescue operations but right now the team is racing against time.” The quake brought down hotels, shopping malls and countless houses in Palu, while tsunami waves as high as six metres (20 feet) scoured its beachfront shortly afterwards.</s>Image copyright AFP

The number of people known to have died in Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 1,347, disaster response officials say.

The death toll jumped on Tuesday from a previously confirmed figure of 844.

The 7.5-magnitude quake struck just off the central island of Sulawesi, setting off a tsunami that engulfed the coastal city of Palu.

Aid supplies are beginning to arrive in the city, where survivors have no access to running water or electricity.

As tensions and need run high, police have begun guarding shops against looters.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Palu saw police firing warning shots and tear gas on Tuesday as people tried to take supplies from one shop.

Image caption Police fired over crowds who were trying to raid one shop in Palu...

Image caption ... but shortly after, allowed people to take the basic supplies they needed.

Image caption Large queues are forming around any fuel stations in the area

Officers initially took a lenient approach to survivors seizing basic goods, deputy national police chief Ari Dono Sukmanto said, but some people have since been arrested for stealing computers and cash.

"After day two the food supply started to come in, it only needed to be distributed," he said. "We are now re-enforcing the law."

Humanitarian relief convoys entering the city are also being escorted by soldiers and police.

In a separate incident, a volcano began erupting on the same island, Sulawesi, on Wednesday.

Mount Soputan is about 1,000km (600 miles) away from Palu, and it was not immediately seen as a threat to the aid operation.

'No drinks since yesterday'

Rebecca Henschke, BBC News, Palu

After days of waiting for aid, Wasliha decided she had to walk to find help. Her young family trekked through the mountains for more than 10 hours from her devastated village of Lolu Sigi Biromaru to Palu airport.

"We had no clean water or food and all we have is the clothes we are wearing," she says.

Her children gulp down the water we give them, they haven't drunk anything since yesterday

She had heard the military was flying out and had joined hundreds of people at the airport hoping to get a seat.

Everyone wants to get out. Most can't and are having to endure another day without power and limited drinking water. In the town square people patiently wait in line to refill water bottles.

Those that can make it here receive two meals a day, from a community kitchen run by volunteers and gallon of water to bathe in.

Erna Wahyuni is cutting up a mountain of cabbage for soup. Her house was destroyed, but she wants to help.

"I was saved so I have to give back. It's also hard just sitting in a tent in the hot sun all day, I would rather be cooking," she laughs.

Are there still hopes of finding survivors?

Some people were rescued from the rubble in the first few days.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Indonesia quake turns ground into liquid

But many of the buildings brought down by the quake were then swamped by the tsunami, so hopes of more rescues are fading.

In the hills above Palu, volunteers are filling a vast grave with the bodies of the dead. They have been told to prepare for 1,300 victims to arrive.

The ground has become highly unstable and is constantly moving, making the search a dangerous operation and raising the risk of mudslides.

Among the people confirmed dead are 34 Indonesian students, whose bodies were found under a church buried by one mudslide. Dozens more are still missing there.

Teams have so far recovered three survivors from the ruins of the collapsed Hotel Roa Roa in Palu. An estimated 50 people were also inside when the quake hit.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption This is what's left of the Hotel Roa Roa in Palu

Rescue team leader Agus Haryono said they were using acoustic detectors to try to locate more survivors.

He said concrete and metal cutters were helping to clear the debris but added: "We have to be very careful so we don't risk hurting any survivors."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Walls at a prison in Palu collapsed, allowing dozens of inmates to escape

President Joko Widodo has called for reinforcements, telling the national search-and-rescue agency to send more police officers and soldiers into affected districts.

"There are some main priorities that we must tackle and the first is to evacuate, find and save victims who've not yet been found," he said.

Why are people struggling to get help?

Across Palu, a damaged bridge, blocked roads, a partially closed airport and broken telecommunications have made it difficult to bring help into the affected area, and impossible to contact more remote regions.

Image caption Aerial photos show the effects of the quake and tsunami on a major bridge in Palu

With hospitals damaged, injured people have been treated in the open and at least one military field hospital has been set up.

The military has taken over the airport to fly aid in, and injured people and other evacuees out.

But for thousands of people wanting to get the first commercial flight out of Palu, the wait continues.

"I'd get a plane anywhere. I've been waiting for two days. Haven't eaten, barely had a drink," 44-year-old food vendor Wiwid told Reuters.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Tsunami survivor: "I was hugging my wife, but when the wave came... I immediately lost her"

On Monday, 3,000 to 5,000 people who wanted to be evacuated from Palu swarmed the airport hoping to hitch a ride on a military Hercules plane. The military arranged for them to depart on ferries instead.

What was Palu like?

Bustling city with a population of approximately 350,000 people, with many banks and supermarkets

Situated in a rain shadow - where there is very little precipitation - and one of Indonesia's driest places

Near the popular beach area of Tanjung Karang

Served by a busy regional airport

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says there are nearly 200,000 people in urgent need of assistance, about a quarter of them children.

The British government said on Tuesday it was sending a transport aircraft filled with urgent aid to Indonesia.

Defence secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Britain stands united with Indonesia as they recover from this devastating tragedy."

Image copyright Reuters

Why was the disaster so bad?

The 7.5-magnitude quake occurred at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) just off the central island of Sulawesi at 18:03 (10:03 GMT) on Friday.

Scientists believe it may have triggered an underwater landslide which set off a tsunami. The waves built up height and speed as they travelled down the long narrow bay towards Palu.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has said the final death toll could be in the thousands, while the Red Cross estimates that more than 1.6 million people have been affected.
At least 1,347 people are now known to have died in the aftermath of the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami.