Indonesia raises death toll from earthquake and tsunami to more than 1,200

Palu, Indonesia, ravaged by a tsunami and earthquake — (Image credit: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Indonesia's disaster agency raised the death toll from Friday's magnitude 7.5 earthquake and subsequent tsunami to 1,234 fatalities, from 844 dead. Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said nearly 800 people are also severely injured, and two communities, Sigi and Balaroa, are not yet included in the casualties count. Indonesian Red Cross officials tell BBC News that the dead include 34 Indonesian students discovered under a church buried by a mudslide. The earthquake and tsunami ravaged the city of Palu and neighboring areas on central Sulawesi island.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.