PANDEGLANG:
A tsunami killed at least 222 people and injured hundreds on the Indonesian
islands of Java and Sumatra following an underwater landslide believed caused
by the erupting Anak Krakatau volcano, officials and media said today. Hundreds
of homes and other buildings were “heavily damaged” when the tsunami struck,
almost without warning, along the rim of the Sunda Strait late on Saturday,
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said.

Thousands
of residents were forced to evacuate to higher ground. By 1040 GMT, the
disaster agency had raised the death toll to 222 from 168, with 843 injured and
28 missing. TV images showed the seconds when the tsunami hit the beach and
residential areas in Pandeglang on Java island, dragging with it victims,
debris, and large chunks of wood and metal. Coastal residents reported not
seeing or feeling any warning signs, such as receding water or an earthquake,
before waves of 2-3 meters washed ashore, according to media.

Authorities
said a warning siren went off in some areas. The timing of the tsunami, over
the Christmas holiday season, evoked memories of the Indian Ocean
tsunami triggered by an earthquake on Dec. 26 in 2004, which killed 226,000
people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia. Oystein Lund
Andersen, a Norwegian holidaymaker, was in Anyer town with his family when
Saturday’s tsunami struck.

“I
had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed 15-20 meters inland. Next
wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road
behind it,” he said on Facebook. “Managed to evacuate with my family to higher
ground through forest paths and villages, where we are taken care of by the
locals.”

Evacuation
warning

Authorities
warned residents and tourists in coastal areas around the Sunda Strait to stay
away from beaches and a high-tide warning remained in place through until Dec.
25. “Those who have evacuated, please do not return yet,” said Rahmat Triyono,
an official at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

President
Joko Widodo, who is running for re-election in April, said on Twitter that he
had “ordered all relevant government agencies to immediately take emergency
response steps, find victims and care for the injured”. Vice President Jusuf
Kalla told a news conference the death toll would “likely increase”. Saturday’s
tsunami was the latest in a series of tragedies that have struck Indonesia, a
vast archipelago, this year.

Successive
earthquakes flattened parts of the tourist island of Lombok, and a double
quake-and-tsunami killed thousands on Sulawesi island. Nearly 200 people died
when a Lion Air passenger plane crashed into the Java Sea in October. Rescue
workers and ambulances were finding it difficult to reach affected areas
because some roads were blocked by debris from damaged houses, overturned cars
and fallen trees. The western coast of Banten province in Java was the
worst-hit area, Nugroho told reporters in Yogyakarta. He said at least 35
people were reported dead in Lampung in southern Sumatra.

The
waves washed away an outdoor stage where a local rock band was performing in
Tanjung Lesung in Banten province, a popular tourist getaway not far from the
capital, Jakarta, killing at least one musician. Others were missing. Around
250 employees of the state utility company PLN had gathered in Tanjung Lesung
for an end-of-year event, company spokesman I Made Suprateka told Reuters. At
least seven people were killed, and around 89 are missing, he said. Dramatic TV
footage showed the seconds when the tsunami hit a concert at the event and
washed away the stage where the band, Seventeen, was performing.

Washed
away

“The
water washed away the stage which was located very close to the sea,” the band
said in a statement. “The water rose and dragged away everyone at the location.
We have lost loved ones, including our bassist and manager ... and others are
missing.” Police officers rescued a young boy who was trapped in a car buried
under fallen trees and rubble, according to a video of his rescue posted on
Twitter by the Indonesian National Police, who did not give any information as
to the boy’s identity.

Officials
were trying to determine the exact cause of the disaster. Anak Krakatau, an
active volcano roughly halfway between Java and Sumatra, has been spewing ash
and lava for months. It erupted again just after 9 pm on Saturday and the
tsunami struck at around 9.30 p.m., according to BMKG. The tsunami was caused
by “an undersea landslide resulting from volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau”
and was exacerbated by abnormally high tide because of the full moon, Nugroho
said.

Ben
van der Pluijm, an earthquake geologist and a professor in the University of
Michigan, said the tsunami may have been caused by a “partial collapse” of Anak
Krakatau. “Instability of the slope of an active volcano can create a rock
slide that moves a large volume of water, creating local tsunami waves that can
be very powerful. This is like suddenly dropping a bag of sand in a tub filled
with water,” he said. The eruption of Krakatau, previously known as Krakatoa,
in 1883 killed more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis.

Anak
Krakatau is the island that emerged from the area once occupied by Krakatau,
which was destroyed in 1883. It first appeared in 1927 and has been growing ever
since. Neighboring Malaysia and Australia both said they were ready to provide
assistance if needed.—Reuters


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