Indonesian authorities are scrambling to get help to quake-hit Sulawesi as survivors stream from ruined homes and accounts of devastation filter from remote areas, including the death of 34 children at a Christian camp.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The confirmed death toll of 844 was certain to rise on Monday as rescuers reached devastated outlying communities hit in Friday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves as high as six metres.
Dozens of people were reported trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the small city of Palu, 1500 km northeast of Jakarta. Hundreds more were feared buried in landslides that engulfed villages.
President Joko Widodo told reporters getting them out was a priority.
"The evacuation is not finished yet, there are many places where the evacuation couldn't be done because of the absence of heavy equipment but last night equipment started to arrive," Widodo said.
"We'll send as much food supplies as possible today with Hercules planes, directly from Jakarta," he said, referring to C-130 military transport aircraft.
The disaster agency said later more heavy equipment and personnel were needed to recover bodies.
A mass burial of victims has begun.
Local Army Commander Tiopan Aritonang said on Monday 545 bodies would be brought from one hospital alone.The grave being dug in Palu will be 10 meters by 100 meters and can be enlarged if needed.
One woman was recovered alive from ruins overnight in the Palu neighbourhood of Balaroa, where about 1700 houses were swallowed up when the earthquake caused soil to liquefy, the national rescue agency said.
"We don't know how many victims could be buried there, it's estimated hundreds," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
All but 23 of the confirmed deaths were in Palu, a city of about 380,000 people, where authorities were preparing a mass grave to bury the dead as soon as they were identified.
However nearly three days on the extent of the disaster was not known with authorities bracing for the toll to possibly climb into the thousands as connections with remote areas up and down the coast are restored.
Of particular concern is Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre of the quake, and two other districts, where communication had been cut off.
The four districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.
Aid worker Lian Gogali, who had reached Donggala district by motorcycle, said hundreds of people facing a lack of food and medicine were trying to get out but evacuation teams had yet to arrive and roads were blocked.
"It's devastating," she said.
Indonesian Red Cross spokeswoman Aulia Arriani said the situation in another of the affected districts, Sigi, was dire.
"My volunteers found 34 bodies buried under tsunami debris ... missing children who had been doing a bible camp," she said.
One aid worker spoke of growing lawlessness and threats of violence among survivors seeking fuel.
The government has allocated 560 billion rupiah ($A52 m) for the recovery.
with AP
Australian Associated Press
