Helicopters are dropping disinfectant on neighbourhoods in the earthquake- and tsunami-stricken city of Palu to reduce disease risks from the thousands of victims believed buried in obliterated communities, Indonesia's disaster agency said Thursday.

The official death toll had risen to 2,073 as of Thursday, with most of the fatalities in Palu.

Rescue workers in Indonesia stepped up their search for victims of an earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday, hoping to find as many bodies as they can before this week's deadline for their work to halt, as the official death toll rose to 2,010.