Officials in Indonesia fear more than 5-thousand people are still missing after last week's earthquake and tsunami.

Over 17-hundred people are known to have died in the twin disaster on the island of Sulawesi.

Charities say entire villages are buried under mountains of mud.

British ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik says two planes containing aid from the UK have arrived in the country </s> Officials fear at least 5,000 people may still be missing in Indonesia following a deadly earthquake and tsunami that killed 1,763 people and devastated the northern island of Sulawesi.

Officials updated the number of casualties on Sunday. The country's disaster agency announced the search for survivors would end Thursday, despite fears that scores of people still remain buried under heaps of rubble and mud.

Thousands of those still missing are thought to be from the towns of Baleroa and Petobo, which was swept away following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami last month, leaving mass destruction in its wake. Officials are reportedly considering declaring the area mass graves because of the widespread damage.

Officials said it was still unsafe to use heavy machinery in some areas where soil had loosened and collapsed after the earthquake in a process known as liquefaction.

Many of the dead were buried in mass graves because of the overwhelming amount of victims. Officials have said they worry that a delay in burying the bodies could create a new health crisis.

Families have sifted through body bags searching for their loved ones. Many of the missing are believed to be dead as rescue efforts enter its second and final week. Those not found by Thursday will be presumed dead, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

More than 30 bodies were recovered in one place on Saturday. Officials said rescue efforts will now focus on supplying aid and relief to survivors of effected areas.

62,000 people remain displaced, Nugroho said, as aid donations slowly reach those impacted by the disaster.

Reports indicate that the country's early detection warning systems were not working before the tsunami hit.

Officials confirmed to the BBC that a network of more than 20 floating detection units connected to underwater sensors which transmit advance tsunami warnings to the Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency had either been damaged or stolen.

The system had not worked since 2012, and an apparent lack of funding hasn't helped.

"If we look at the funding, it has decreased every year," disaster agency spokesperson Sutopo told local media Sunday.

A tsunami warning was still issued, but it appeared to significantly underestimated the scale of the impending waves. Indonesia's geophysics agency warned of a tsunami nearly 10 feet tall, but lifted the warning shortly after it was issued. </s> JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing. </s> By The Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Indonesia's disaster agency says at least 168 dead, 745 injured and 30 missing in Saturday night's tsunami

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's disaster agency says at least 168 dead, 745 injured and 30 missing in Saturday night's tsunami. </s> Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia disaster agency says death toll from quake and tsunami climbs to 1,763, with more than 5,000 feared missing. </s> Indonesian authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll to 2,010 from the 7.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Sulawesi island on Sep.28.

The official number of missing remained 671 while it is feared that 5,000 people could be still buried under the rubble. </s> A charity concert has been held in Indonesia to raise money for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami more than a week ago.

Government ministers and musicians took part in the event - that raised more than one million euro.

Search teams in Indonesia say they are finding more bodies as they work through the devastation left by the earthquake and tsunami.

1-thousand-649 people have died and at least 265 are missing.

32 people were found near a mosque and primary school in the Palu region this morning. </s> The death toll in Indonesia's twin quake-tsunami disaster climbed to 1,424 on Thursday with time running out to rescue survivors six days after the disaster struck.

Residents on Sulawesi Island's west coast scavenged for food in farms and orchards as the government struggled to overcome shortages of water, food, shelter and fuel in a disaster zone with no power and degraded communications.

Most of the confirmed dead were in Palu, while losses in remote areas are yet unknown.

Communication links are down and bridges and roads have been destroyed or blocked.

In 2004, an earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.
The Indonesia's disaster agency confirms the deaths of 1,944 people in the double earthquake and tsunami. 5,000 people are still missing and presumed dead.