Earthquake triggers tsunami in Indonesia, causing unknown number of deaths

Earthquake in Indonesia.
(Image credit: NURPADILA/AFP/Getty Images)

A powerful earthquake triggered a 10-foot-tall tsunami off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday morning, CBS News reports.

The tsunami caused some deaths, Reuters reports, but the exact number is unclear. Families have been reported missing, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told CBS News.

Houses in at least two cities have been swept away thus far, per CBS News, and a large mosque has collapsed due to the tsunami. The tsunami hit the cities of Palu and Donggala, where more than 600,000 people live, per Reuters.

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The quake hits close to home for the region, which was hit by an earthquake-triggering tsunami in 2004, resulting in the deaths of more than 200,000 people.

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Marianne Dodson

Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.