Palu (Indonesia): A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi today, killing four people, toppling homes and triggering tsunami warnings that sparked widespread panic.
Thousands of people fled to higher ground in the middle of the night after US and Indonesian agencies warned of a possible tsunami in the minutes after the quake struck.
"Some residents saw an abnormal sea level as high as two metres. They thought that a tsunami would strike in a matter of minutes," said Nasir Maroto, a council member in worst-hit Buol district of Central Sulawesi.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow earthquake struck 136 kilometres off the coastal town of Gorontalo.
US and Indonesian authorities immediately warned that the quake was strong enough to cause a devastating tsunami but there was no killer wave and the Indonesian warning was withdrawn shortly after being issued.
Indonesia was the country worst hit by the earthquake triggered tsunami in December 2004 that killed more than 200,000 people in 11 nations across Asia, including over 168,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.
Officials in Buol district, about 600 kilometres north of the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, said at least three people had died in the area and about 700 houses had collapsed.
"A collapsing wall and roof hit them as they were trying to escape," local official Syamsuddin Mangge said. He added another 20 people had been hospitalised with injuries.
A 56-year-old man was killed and 23 people were injured in Kwandang village, Gorontalo province, an Indonesian crisis centre official said.
Central Sulawesi governor HB Paliuju said communications with Buol had been cut in the quake and information was sketchy.
