Tsunami kills at least 43, Indonesia says
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A tsunami apparently caused by the eruption of an island volcano killed at least 43 people after the waves hit the coast around Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, sending a wall of water some 65 feet inland and damaging hundreds of houses, including hotels, the government and witnesses said.
Scientists from Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics agency said it could have been caused by undersea landslides from the eruption of Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island formed over years from the nearby Krakatau volcano. They also cited tidal waves caused by the full moon.
“I had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed 15-20m (meters) inland,” Oystein Lund Andersen wrote on Facebook.
He said he was taking photos of the volcano when he saw a big wave come toward him.
“Next wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road behind it. Managed to evacuate with my family to higher ground trough forest paths and villages, where we are taken care of (by) the locals. Were unharmed, thankfully.”
The worst affected area was the Pandeglang region of Banten province in Java, which encompasses the Ujung Kulon National Park and popular beaches, the Disaster Management Agency said. Of the deaths, 33 were in Pandeglang.
In the city of Bandar Lampung on southern Sumatra, hundreds of residents took refuge at the governor’s office.
Alif, a resident in Pandeglang district who goes by one name, said the tsunami reached nearly 10 feet high. He told MetroTV station that many people were still searching for missing relatives.
In September, more than 2,500 people were killed by a quake and tsunami that hit the city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, which is just east of Borneo.