The Latest on the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia (all times local):

Indonesia's top security minister says the government is considering turning some areas of disaster-stricken Sulawesi island into mass graves.

The security minister, Wiranto, says efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in parts of the hard-hit city of Palu, including the Balaroa and Petobo neighborhoods, where the Sept. 28 earthquake caused loose soil to liquefy, causing hundreds of homes to be sucked into quicksand-like mud and burying possibly hundreds of victims.

Wiranto, who uses one name, said heavy equipment cannot operate in such areas because they could potentially sink in the soft mud.

Wiranto said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search for victims in such areas and turning them into mass graves. The victims can be considered as "martyrs," he added.

The powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Palu and surrounding areas on Sept. 28 left at least 1,649 people dead.

Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.

He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.

The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28.

Aid is continuing to pour into hard-hit areas of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, which has been rattled by some 450 aftershocks since an earthquake and tsunami struck just over a week ago.

A military transport plane from Japan arrived in the city of Palu on Saturday carrying emergency relief, including food and medicine. Meanwhile, commercial flights to the airport have partially resumed with two to three flights per day.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted a graphic on his Twitter account showing around 450 aftershocks being recorded in the area since the Sept. 28 quake, but they have decreased in frequency and intensity.

More than 70,000 people have been left homeless from the disaster and 1,571 people have been confirmed dead. Many more remain missing.</s>Palu: Rescuers picking through the grim aftermath of Indonesia's quake-tsunami issued a fresh public health warning on Saturday as more decaying corpses were unearthed from beneath the ruined city of Palu.

More than a thousand people may still be missing in the seaside city on Sulawesi island, officials said, after the region was hit by a powerful quake and a wall of water, with the official death toll now at 1,571. Hopes of finding anyone alive a full eight days since the disaster have all but faded, though Indonesian authorities have not officially called off the search for survivors.

There are fears that vast numbers of decomposing bodies could be buried beneath Petobo and Balaroa — two areas virtually wiped off the map — and authorities have warned survivors to steer clear as they brace for more macabre discoveries. "Most of the bodies we have found are not intact, and that poses a danger for the rescuers. We have to be very careful to avoid contamination," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue effort, told AFP from Palu.

"We have vaccinated our teams, but we need to be extra cautious as they are exposed to health hazards. This is also a health concern for the public. It is very hard to control the crowd... People might be exposed to danger."

At a massive government housing complex at Balaroa, where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush, soldiers in face masks clambered over the giant mounds of mud, brick and cement. The troops peeking under collapsed walls and peeling back corrugated sheets do not have to look hard.

Sergeant Syafaruddin, from an army unit in Makassar south of Palu, asks for a body bag to be brought across to a spot near where the remnants of an Islamic school now stands. Two of his soldiers emerge from the ditch with the body bag sagging in the middle but looking too light to be a corpse — they say they found the heads of two adults and one child. "There are no survivors here. We just find bodies, every day," says Syafaruddin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

At another spot, a digger is called to turn over the devastated remains of a home. With almost no effort he unearths the body of a long haired lady buried in mud. At the flattened Hotel Roa-Roa— where early optimism that survivors might be found faded as the days wore on and tropical heat intensified — search teams also prepared body bags.

Rescuers reviewed CCTV footage on Saturday to get a sense of where the doomed guests could be buried beneath the impenetrable mountain of twisted rubble

Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves. Hundreds of people on Saturday rushed a truck carrying gas cylinders for cooking, with long and desperate queues quickly forming. One supermarket that opened its doors refused to allow people inside, instead passing goods through the door as armed troops stood watch.

"We have not raised prices at all. However, we are not letting customers inside for safety reasons. The building survived the earthquake, but we don't know how safe it is," said Satria Hamid, a spokesman for the Transmart Carrefour supermarket.

Thousands of survivors continued to stream out of Palu to nearby cities in the aftermath of the disaster. Hospitals remain overstretched and short on staff and supplies. Project HOPE, a medical NGO, said only two of its 82 staff in Palu had reported for duty since the quake.

"We still don't know the fate of the clinic doctors, nurses and technicians who usually staff the clinic," the organisation said in a statement. A floating hospital run by the Indonesian navy and docked in Palu port has already assisted with the delivery of a baby, local media reported.

The United Nations (UN) said on Friday that it was seeking $50.5 million "for immediate relief" to help victims of the devastating quake and tsunami in Indonesia. After days of delays, international aid is slowly making its way to the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance.

Indonesia had been reluctant to accept outside help at first but as the scale of the disaster became clear the government agreed to allow in foreign aid. Getting vital supplies to the affected areas has proved hugely challenging, with the number of flights able to land at Palu's small airport still limited, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys.

Oxfam had sent water treatment units and purification kits to Palu and Swiss aid teams on the ground were providing drinking water and emergency shelter, both said in statements Saturday. Indonesia sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.</s>Australia is providing additional support to Indonesia in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which struck Sulawesi on 28 September.

Assessments are still ongoing, with over 1,500 people confirmed dead and 65,000 homes damaged and destroyed.

Australia will provide a further $4.5 million to assist those affected by this disaster, bringing our total assistance to the relief effort to $10.25 million.

This support will provide additional humanitarian supplies, health and logistical assistance responding to immediate needs and assisting with recovery efforts.

This builds on support already provided by Australia through the Indonesian Red Cross and Australian NGOs, which is assisting over 80,000 people with access to shelter, sanitation and clean water.

The Australian Defence Force continues to support the Indonesian Government in their response efforts, including by providing vital airlift capacity for moving humanitarian supplies.</s>A charity concert has been held in Indonesia to raise money for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami more than a week ago.

Government ministers and musicians took part in the event - that raised more than one million euro.

Search teams in Indonesia say they are finding more bodies as they work through the devastation left by the earthquake and tsunami.

1-thousand-649 people have died and at least 265 are missing.

32 people were found near a mosque and primary school in the Palu region this morning.</s>JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities on Saturday raised the death toll in the devastating earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in Sulawesi Island to 1,649.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that among the victims, 1,413 were from Palu city, the hardest-hit in twin disasters, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Most of the victims were found in Palu and they were hit by tsunami, particularly in the coastal areas near Talise beach," the spokesman said.

The remaining deaths were reported in the districts of Donggala, Sigi, Parigi Moutong and Pasang Kayu. Relief aid started arriving in the more remote areas of Sulawesi Island.

Assistance was being provided by local authorities and non-governmental organisations in Donggala and other cut off areas such as Sigi, Red Cross spokesperson Iris Van Deinse said. Work on restoring the power supply to affected areas was ongoing.

The quakes and the tsunami also left 2,549 people injured, with 265 people still missing. The number of people taking shelter in makeshift tents stand at 62,369 now, the spokesperson said.

In Palu, banks and businesses reopened and the chaos surrounding the distribution of food, water and gasoline during the initial aftermath of the tragedy, had ended.

Bodies were still being removed from the other worst affected areas, such as the village of Petobo -- about 7 km southeast of Palu -- and Balaroa, where NGO workers estimated that over 1,000 people could still be buried.</s>PALU, Indonesia (AP) - The Latest on the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia(all times local):

Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.

He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.

The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28.

Residents take a bath amidst remains of toppled homes and structures at the earthquake and tsunami-hit Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia on Friday Oct. 5, 2018. As the sun slipped behind the mountains and a gentle breeze blew onshore, hundreds of people gathered on an Indonesian beach Friday to chant a Muslim prayer and remember those they lost one week after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the area, killing more than 1,500 people. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Aid is continuing to pour into hard-hit areas of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, which has been rattled by some 450 aftershocks since an earthquake and tsunami struck just over a week ago.

A military transport plane from Japan arrived in the city of Palu on Saturday carrying emergency relief, including food and medicine. Meanwhile, commercial flights to the airport have partially resumed with two to three flights per day.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted a graphic on his Twitter account showing around 450 aftershocks being recorded in the area since the Sept. 28 quake, but they have decreased in frequency and intensity.

More than 70,000 people have been left homeless from the disaster and 1,571 people have been confirmed dead. Many more remain missing.</s>PALU, Indonesia — The Latest on the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia(all times local):

Indonesia’s disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.

He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.

The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28.

Aid is continuing to pour into hard-hit areas of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, which has been rattled by some 450 aftershocks since an earthquake and tsunami struck just over a week ago.

A military transport plane from Japan arrived in the city of Palu on Saturday carrying emergency relief, including food and medicine. Meanwhile, commercial flights to the airport have partially resumed with two to three flights per day.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted a graphic on his Twitter account showing around 450 aftershocks being recorded in the area since the Sept. 28 quake, but they have decreased in frequency and intensity.

More than 70,000 people have been left homeless from the disaster and 1,571 people have been confirmed dead. Many more remain missing.</s>BANGSAL, Indonesia (AP) — The Latest on the recent earthquake in Indonesia (all times local):

Indonesia’s national disaster agency is insisting the death toll from the Lombok earthquake still stands at 131 after other government agencies including the military gave much higher figures.

The governor of the province that includes Lombok, the military, the national search and rescue agency and regent of North Lombok issued different death tolls on Wednesday that ranged from 226 to 381.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement that information being provided by different agencies needs to be complete before it can be cross-checked and officially verified.

He said his agency is “still verifying the correctness of the data.”

He said victims can be counted several times because of the common practice of people in Indonesia using several names and noted that families of victims are entitled to financial compensation from the government when a death is confirmed.

Indonesia’s disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake that shook Lombok island Sunday evening has risen to 131.

Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said there are reports of other deaths but they still need to be verified. He said the death toll is still expected to increase.

Nearly 2,500 people have been hospitalized with serious injuries and more than 156,000 people are displaced due to the extensive damage to homes.

The magnitude 7.0 quake came a week after another quake on Lombok killed 16 people.

This version corrects the spelling of the spokesman’s name.

Aid began reaching isolated areas of the Indonesian island struggling after a powerful earthquake, while rescuers doubled down on efforts to find the dead, pulling another body from the rubble.

Volunteers and rescue personnel were erecting more temporary shelters for the over 80,000 people left homeless on Lombok by the magnitude 7.0 quake on Sunday evening. Water, food and medical supplies were being distributed from trucks.

The military said five planes carrying food, medicine, blankets, field tents and water tankers left Jakarta for the island early Wednesday.

A woman’s body was recovered from the rubble of a collapsed mosque on Wednesday morning in Bangsal district in the north of the island.

Authorities have said the death toll, 105 as of Tuesday evening, would increase as the search effort continues.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Latest - 18.23 More than 1600 people are now known to have died in an earthquake and tsunami on Indonesia's Sulawesi island.

Search teams are working through what's left of many buildings with at least 265 people still missing a week on.

British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik says there are still many areas aid workers are struggling to reach.

The Indonesian government is considering making earthquake and tsunami-devastated areas into mass graves as the death toll from last week’s disaster continues to climb.

As search teams pulled more bodies from obliterated neighbourhoods in the city of Palu, the disaster agency said the toll had reached 1,649, with at least 265 people still missing.

More nations sent aid and humanitarian workers fanned out in the countryside, while more black body bags were arranged in a row in the crumpled neighbourhood of Balaroa, destined for a mass grave. Rescue workers carry a body to be buried at a mass grave (Dita Alangkara/AP)

Relatives cried as mourners placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside the bags.

Among them was 39-year-old Rudy Rahman, who said the bodies of his 18 and 16-year-old sons had been found. His youngest son remains missing.

“They were found in front of my brother’s house opposite the mosque,” Mr Rahman said. “They found them holding each other. These two brothers were hugging each other.”

Balaroa was one of the areas hardest hit on September 28 by the magnitude 7.5 quake, which threw homes in the neighbourhood tens of metres and left cars upright or perched on eruptions of concrete and asphalt.

Many children were in the mosque at the time of the quake for Koran recitation. An assistant to the imam had said none survived.

Indonesia’s leading security minister, Wiranto, said the government is mulling the possibility of turning Balaroa and Petobo, another neighbourhood in Palu, into mass graves.

Petobo disappeared into the earth as the force of the quake liquefied its soft soil. Liquefaction also struck a large section of Balaroa.

Wiranto said efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in those neighbourhoods, where homes were sucked into the earth, burying possibly hundreds of victims.

He said it is not safe for heavy equipment to operate there.

Wiranto also said the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims’ families the possibility of halting the search and turning the areas into mass graves.

The victims can be considered “martyrs”, he said.

A Japanese military plane landed at Palu’s airport on Saturday morning, and soldiers unloaded tons of supplies, including medicine and small portable generators, in boxes emblazoned with the Japanese flag and the words “From the People of Japan”.

Several other nations have also sent planeloads of aid. Video showed the military dropping supplies from helicopters in places and a large Red Cross ship docked at a port in the region.

In the dusty one-road village of Pewunu, excited children shouted “Red Cross! Red Cross!” as one of the aid group’s medical teams arrived and set up a makeshift clinic in a field where evacuees were sleeping under tarpaulins. One villager said they survived by ransacking shops.

Volunteers laid out a big white tarpaulin on a stage in front of the village office, set a green desk on it and interviewed people about their needs as dozens milled around.

Doctors performed medical checks on elderly residents who emerged from tents and climbed the stage’s stairs with canes or others supporting them.

People living in the camp said two residents died in collapsing houses in the village. They said they had clean water and noodles but not much else.

“There were supplies, but these were looted. All along the roads toward here, they were looted by outsiders,” said Bahamid Fawzi.

“All this while in this crisis, we don’t have water, we don’t have food,” he said. “After that, we started ransacking the stores and the shops. Not because we’re thieves, but because we really needed it. There’s no water, no food — like it or not, we had to do it.”

The earthquake and tsunami swept away buildings along miles of coastline and knocked out power and communications for days.

In a rare move, Indonesia’s government appealed for international help to cope with the tragedy on Sulawesi island.

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than £38 million is required to deliver “immediate, life-saving” aid.- Press Association</s>PALU, Indonesia (AP) — The Latest on the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia (all times local):

Indonesia's top security minister says the government is considering turning some areas of disaster-stricken Sulawesi island into mass graves.

The security minister, Wiranto, says efforts to retrieve bodies are problematic in parts of the hard-hit city of Palu, including the Balaroa and Petobo neighborhoods, where the Sept. 28 earthquake caused loose soil to liquefy, causing hundreds of homes to be sucked into quicksand-like mud and burying possibly hundreds of victims.

Wiranto, who uses one name, said heavy equipment cannot operate in such areas because they could potentially sink in the soft mud.

Wiranto said on local television that the government is discussing with local and religious authorities and victims' families the possibility of halting the search for victims in such areas and turning them into mass graves. The victims can be considered as "martyrs," he added.

The powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Palu and surrounding areas on Sept. 28 left at least 1,649 people dead.

Indonesia's disaster agency says the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Sulawesi island last week has risen to 1,649.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says 265 people are reportedly missing, though more may be buried under deep mud and the rubble of homes and buildings that have collapsed.

He provided the updated figure Saturday at a news conference in Jakarta.

The twin disasters struck Palu and surrounding districts in Central Sulawesi province on Sept. 28.

Aid is continuing to pour into hard-hit areas of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, which has been rattled by some 450 aftershocks since an earthquake and tsunami struck just over a week ago.

A military transport plane from Japan arrived in the city of Palu on Saturday carrying emergency relief, including food and medicine. Meanwhile, commercial flights to the airport have partially resumed with two to three flights per day.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted a graphic on his Twitter account showing around 450 aftershocks being recorded in the area since the Sept. 28 quake, but they have decreased in frequency and intensity.

More than 70,000 people have been left homeless from the disaster and 1,571 people have been confirmed dead. Many more remain missing.
The confirmed death toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 1,571.