A 7.5-magnitude earthquake has triggered a strong tsunami after hitting Indonesia’s coastal city of Palu, officials say.
Waves of up to 6.6ft high swept through Palu on Sulawesi island, not long after authorities had lifted a tsunami warning.
Video on social media shows people screaming and fleeing in panic and a mosque amongst the buildings damaged.
According to officials, five deaths have been reported, but it is not clear if those were as a result of the tsunami.
Last month, a series of earthquakes struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, killing hundreds of people – the biggest on August 5 killed more than 460.
The earthquake hit just off central Sulawesi at a depth of 6.2 miles just before 18:00 local time, the US Geological Survey said.
A tsunami warning was issued, but lifted within the hour.
The dramatic video footage of the tsunami hitting Palu shows the high waves sweeping away several buildings and then the large tilted mosque in the town, about 55 miles from the quake’s epicenter.
Dwikorita Karnawati, head of Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency, BMKG, said the tsunami had receded.
The 2004 tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra killed 226,000 across the Indian Ocean, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire – the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.
More than half of the world’s active volcanoes above sea level are part of the ring.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged the speedy evacuation of casualties, calling for more flights to be sent to the affected areas.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency, said that the northern area of Lombok had suffered massive damage.
Three C-130 Hercules aircraft and two helicopters have been deployed to deliver tents and medical aid, but the earthquake has brought down roads and bridges, making areas difficult to reach.
Electricity supply in the worst-affected areas has been cut off and telecommunication networks are not working.
One official said 80% of north Lombok had suffered damage.
The main city of Mataram was also badly affected, with medical staff struggling to cope with the injured at the damaged hospitals.
Situated off the north-west of Lombok and popular with backpackers and divers, they were badly hit, with a number of hotels damaged.
Video and still images showed hundreds of tourists flocking to the beach to be evacuated.
There have been reports of deaths on the islands but these have not been confirmed.
Hundreds of tourists have been taken off by boat, but hundreds still remain.
Western Indonesia has been hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reports.
There have been no immediate reports of damage.
According to the USGS, the earthquake struck at 19:49 local time. It said the epicenter was 500 miles south-west of the city of Padang, and 15 miles deep.
Indonesian officials issued a tsunami warning for the regions of West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh.
Australia also issued a tsunami warning for Cocos Island and Christmas Island in the Pacific. It also issued a tsunami watch for Western Australia but this was later lifted.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said evacuations were not required on the islands but advised people to “get out of the water and move away from the immediate water’s edge”, because of the risk of dangerous waves and currents.
Authorities in India said their initial assessment was that there was no tsunami threat. Sri Lankan media also reported the country’s disaster management centre as saying there was no threat.
The earthquake was felt strongly in Padang for a few seconds, AFP reports, with people running out of their homes to higher ground.
Traffic ground to a halt and there was a sense of panic on the streets.
In 2004, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered the world’s deadliest ever tsunami, killing more than 200,000 people.
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