/ 17 July 2006

‘When the waves came, I heard people screaming’

A tsunami triggered by a strong undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia’s Java island on Monday killed at least 80 people, swept away buildings and damaged hundreds of fishing boats, officials and witnesses said.

News of the disaster spread panic across a region still recovering from a tsunami less than two years ago in which nearly 230 000 people were killed or reported missing, mostly in Indonesia. But there were no reports of casualties or damage in any other country from Monday’s tsunami.

”Our latest data shows 80 people have died while at least 68 are badly injured. The number can climb because many may have been swept away by the waves,” said Fitri Sidikah, an official at the Indonesian Red Cross disaster centre.

”We are going to send body bags, tents and other equipment,” she said. ”Around 650 fishing boats are damaged.”

Waves up to 1,5m high crashed into Pangandaran beach near the town of Ciamis, 270km south-east of Jakarta, killing 37 people, a local official said.

”The number could grow because when we went to the shore, rescuers were trying to evacuate more bodies,” Rudi Supriatna Bahro told Metro TV.

Bahro said areas up to half a kilometre from the beach were affected by the tsunami, with flimsily constructed buildings flattened. ”We need tents, food and medical aid.”

Indonesia’s official Antara news agency reported deaths had occurred at two other beach resorts in Java, and Metro TV put the number of dead above 30 in the central Java port of Cilacap.

”The search is still going on to find those who probably have been swept away by the tsunami waves,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose mainly Muslim country is the world’s fourth most populous, told reporters.

Sweden’s foreign ministry said two Swedish children from a holidaying family were said to be missing. There were no immediate reports of other non-Indonesians dead or missing.

The United States-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake had a magnitude of 7,2, while the US Geological Survey put it at 7,7. Indonesia’s state meteorology and geophysics agency said the quake’s strength was 6,8 on the Richter scale.

‘Ring of Fire’

Indonesia’s 17 000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the ”Pacific Ring of Fire”.

A tsunami warning for Java’s southern coast and nearby Christmas Island was issued by the Pacific centre. Police on Christmas Island, an Australian territory south of Indonesia, said there was no damage there.

India also issued a warning for the Andaman and Nicobar islands, badly hit by the 2004 tsunami, but officials said there was no real threat. The Maldives, a low-lying chain of islands to the south-west of India, also issued a warning.

The December 2004 tsunami was triggered by a massive earthquake. Nearly 170 000 people were killed or reported missing in Indonesia’s Aceh province. Tens of thousands died elsewhere, the majority in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Pangandaran, the area that appeared to receive the brunt of Monday’s tsunami, is a popular local tourist spot with many small hotels on the beach. It is close to a nature reserve.

The waves washed away wooden cottages and kiosks lining the shoreline facing the Indian Ocean, witnesses said.

”When the waves came, I heard people screaming and then I heard something like a plane about to crash nearby and I just ran,” Uli Sutarli, a plantation worker who was on Pangandaran beach, told Reuters by telephone.

”All wooden structures are flattened to the ground but hotel buildings made out of concrete are still standing,” he said.

Hendri Subakti, head seismologist at the West Java earthquake centre, said the waves were a maximum of 1,5m high, although some witnesses talked of waves up to 5m.

Some people were still fleeing the coastal area hours later as rumours spread there could be another quake and tsunami.

Some workers in high-rise Jakarta buildings felt the quake, which struck more than 40km under the Indian Ocean and was centred 180km off Pangandaran beach, and fled their offices.

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia. In May, an earthquake near the central Java city of Yogyakarta killed more than 5 700 people. — Reuters

Additional reporting by Muklis Ali, Diyan Jari, Muhamad Ari and Yoga Rusmana