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BREAKING NEWS: Massive tsunami slams into Indonesia sweeping away homes, leaving trail of destruction

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesperson for the Indonesian disaster agency, said that the magnitude of the earthquake in Sulawesi was 7.5 on the Richter scale

The Indonesian city of Palu was slammed by waves from a tsunami set off by a powerful earthquake that rippled across the region, the disaster agency said, as the huge tremor destroyed buildings and sent panicked residents fleeing into the streets.

"A tsunami has happened in Palu," said Rahmat Triyono, head of the agency's earthquake and tsunami division, referring to the city of 350,000 nearly 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the quake's epicentre.