Update: Massive Earthquake Hits Indonesia, Tsunami Hits Palu

A massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami in Palu and Donngala. USGS

A massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami in Palu and Donggala.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit at a depth of about 6 miles and it was located 48 miles north of Palu. Several aftershocks hit the area, with some registering 5.7 and 5.2 on the Richter scale.

A massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami in Palu and Donngala. USGS

The Associated Press, citing a spokesman with Indonesia’s disaster agency, reported that a tsunami occurred along Palu and Donggala.

A video uploaded to social media shows the apparent tsunami that hit the area after the quake.

He said that entire houses were swept away and families are reported missing.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman, said that communications with the area in central Sulawesi are down. A search and rescue effort is being hampered by darkness, according to the report.

“It happened while we still have difficulties in collecting data from nine villages affected by the first quake,” another official told AP, saying that numerous houses also collapsed. “People ran out in panic.”

Several aftershocks rocked the area after the first 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit Sept. 28. USGS

In 2004, a tsunami triggered by a quake off Sumatra killed 226,000 people around the Indian Ocean, including more than 120,000 people in Indonesia.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of frequent seismic activity where most of the world’s earthquakes hit. The Ring of Fire also contains the majority of the world’s active volcanoes.