Indonesia calls off search for quake, tsunami victims

Indonesia's disaster agency says the official search for bodies will end on Thursday with mass prayers in hard-hit neighbourhoods following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 2,000 people.

Agency spokesperson Sutopo Nugroho said volunteers and family members can continue searching, and that emergency response efforts would continue until the end of the month.

"The handling of the emergency response period so far continues, but the evacuation process of the victims [those who died] will be stopped on Thursday, October 11."

TRT World 's John Joe Reagan reports from the coastal city of Palu.

Over 2,000 dead

Nugroho said the death toll from the double disaster on September 28 has risen to 2,045, with most of the fatalities in the coastal city of Palu.

More than 80,000 people are living in temporary shelters or otherwise displaced, he said.

Possibly 5,000 people are buried in obliterated parts of the city and its surroundings where the force of the quake liquefied the soil and sucked houses into the earth.

Kilometres of coastline were trashed by the tsunami and Nugroho said its waves were up to 11 metres high.

A tsunami warning after the quake had predicted waves of 0.5 to 3 metres.

Reconstruction to start in November

"Reconstruction and rehabilitation are scheduled to start in early November," Nugroho said.

He said data was being compiled and mapping done to help determine where houses should be built.

The danger of tsunamis near the coast in the north of the city and of soil liquefaction in the south are the major worries.

Areas hit by liquefaction will be turned into parks and sports fields and memorials.

Nugroho declined to speculate on how long it would take to build new houses.