Posted on 07/17/2006 7:03:26 PM PDT by blam
Scores dead as huge tsunami slams into Java
By Marianne Kearney in Jakarta and Sebastien Berger
(Filed: 18/07/2006)
An undersea earthquake sent a tsunami crashing into the Indonesian island of Java yesterday, killing at least 86 people and flattening homes and beach huts in resorts and villages along its south coast.
An Indonesian survivor searches for his relatives among 41 bodies at Pangandaran health centre in West Java
Scores more people were missing last night and the toll was expected to rise after areas of the densely-populated shore were destroyed by waves several yards high.
Thousands fled to higher ground and were afraid to return home until the aftershocks ceased.
The earthquake, whose epicentre was 110 miles offshore at a depth of six miles, struck in mid-afternoon and had a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter Scale. It was followed by five powerful aftershocks, two of them with magnitudes above six.
That, however, was less powerful than the great earthquake of Boxing Day 2004, which unleashed a tsunami that devastated the coast of Sumatra, west of Java, and many other Indian Ocean shorelines.
Among the worst-affected areas was the resort of Pandangaran, described as Java's answer to Bali and popular with foreign divers, where fishing boats were swept into beachfront buildings.
Cries of "Tsunami! Tsunami!" went up as the wall of water approached and residents and tourists climbed trees or crowded into mosques in an effort to escape.
"When the waves came I heard people screaming and then I heard something like a plane about to crash nearby and I just ran," said Uli Sutarli, a plantation worker. "All wooden structures are flattened but hotels made out of concrete are still standing."
Kirsten Hitchcamp, the German owner of Adam's Homestay in the town, said many buildings collapsed in the tremor and she saw dozens of people engulfed by the water. "Everybody ran but lots of people got swept away, lots of people are looking for their kids," she said.
Agus, a policeman, said: "I think there will be a lot of fatalities because probably they are buried under rubble."
The extent of the destruction zone was not clear because many coast roads were blocked, there was no power and the telephone system was down.
In Batu Keras, a fishing village about 20 miles from Pandangaran, Budi, 24, said he was swept more than half a mile inland by a series of waves while surfing. "About 10 waves came, they were huge and everyone ran. There were around eight tourists, including some French guys, learning to surf. I saw them carried by the whitewash but I don't know if they survived."
Regional agencies issued tsunami warnings, but Indonesia does not have a siren system in place to broadcast such alerts.
A government official said at least 10,000 people from Pangandaran had fled to the hills. "We're still traumatised and can feel the aftershocks," he said.
A British Embassy spokesman in Jakarta said officials were not aware of any British casualties.
What awful news.
These people are so poor to begin with.
Dang.......I recall someone posted about the quake last night.
80+ was the last report I read.
Probably hundreds were saved because of memories of the December 2004 tsunami, and, this time, people ran away from the beaches.
What awful news.
These people are so poor to begin with.....................................................................Would it make you feel better if they were rich?
Java is the most populous of the Indonesian islands.
From what I understand, over 60% of Indonesians support Bin Laden. Hope he sends some aid.
"Would it make you feel better if they were rich?"
No.
Money doesn't buy love or family. When people have less it brings them together. Last I heard there wasn't welfare available for them or oodles of government freebies.
The earthquake was not particularly near Krakatau.
Not at all. Indonesia has their own beer. If a country has their own beer, they can't be bad!
We can only hope.
Wouldn't we all! However,as a bit of "dark humor relief"..., you've reminded me of the old sick joke... "I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my Grandfather..., not screaming in terror like his passengers!"
I beg to differ...the "methods" of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, numerous roaming gangs of thugs in Rwanda and Sierra Leone and North Korean dictators DOES matter.
You want to sound "tragically hip," but you just come off as a moron.
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