More than 300 people are dead in Indonesia after a tsunami struck the archipelago’s central island of Sulawesi on Friday evening.
The wave, which struck around sundown and reportedly washed away whole buildings, was the result of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that also damaged nearby towns, according to The Associated Press.
The tsunami struck hardest in Palu, a city of just over 330,000, where “tens to hundreds” of Indonesians were gathered for a beach festival when the quake hit, the AP reports.
A spokesman for the country’s disaster agency told the AP that telecommunications were heavily damaged by the quake and subsequent storm, adding that he hoped international satellites traveling over the country would be able to be used for assistance.
{mosads}“We hope there will be international satellites crossing over Indonesia that can capture images and provide them to us so we can use the images to prepare humanitarian aid,” the spokesman said.
He added that as many as 384 people have died in the city of Palu alone so far as a result of the tsunami.
Video of the wave’s strike shows panicked civilians running for cover as a wave around three meters high crashes through buildings.
A spokeswoman for the United Nations told the AP that U.N. officials were in contact with Indonesia’s government, and “stand ready to provide support as required.”
A tsunami that struck Indonesia and several other countries in 2004 killed an estimated 227,898 in as many as 14 nations.