The death toll from a tsunami that struck coastal areas around Indonesia's Sunda Strait over the weekend has reached 281 with 57 others still unaccounted for, the country's disaster agency said Monday, as rescuers continue their search for the missing.
The national meteorological agency separately confirmed Monday that Saturday night's tsunami was caused by seismic activity at Mt. Anak Krakatau, an active volcano in the Sunda Strait between the main islands of Java and Sumatra.
[Photo courtesy of Susi Air]
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement from Yogyakarta that at least 1,016 people were injured in the regencies of Pandeglang and Serang in Banten Province, on the western tip of Java, and in Lampung Selatan Regency in Lampung Province, on the southern tip of Sumatra.
"Casualty numbers may keep increasing," Sutopo said, adding the tsunami displaced 11,687 people. A total of 611 houses, 69 hotels and villas, 60 food stalls and restaurants, and 420 boats were damaged.
"It is believed that more victims are still under the debris of collapsed buildings. Due to the extensive damage, more heavy machinery and personnel are needed for evacuating, searching or saving the victims," he said.
[Photo courtesy of Susi Air]
Pandeglang, on Java's most western coast, is the worst-affected area, according to Sutopo, with 207 deaths, followed by South Lampung with 60 deaths.
Dwikorita Karnawati, chief of the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, told a joint press conference Monday in Jakarta that the tsunami was triggered by the collapse of the caldera of Mt. Anak Krakatau, which was caused by an earthquake centered on the volcano Saturday night.
"We jointly analyzed satellite images showing that the caldera of Mt. Anak Krakatau actually collapsed" as a result of the quake that occurred at 9:03 p.m. Saturday.
The collapse caused underwater landslides and eventually triggered the tsunami that hit 24 minutes later, she said.
A joint team composed of representatives from several bodies tried to approach Mt. Anak Krakatau but had to turn back due to thick ash spewed by the volcano, she added.
Meteorologists earlier said that a spring tide, caused by the full moon, possibly made the wave larger than it otherwise would have been.
Resting on a bench Sunday night at a public health center in Pandeglang where his injured left arm was treated, Idi Mazdi recalled barely escaping the tsunami with his life.
The 30-year-old employee of the taxation office in the Banten provincial capital of Serang lost two family members and three colleagues in the disaster.
He was attending his office' annual family gathering at a venue close to Tanjung Lesung beach in Pandeglang when, just 20 meters from the shore, he saw a giant wave heading toward him with a thunderous sound.
He said he ran as fast as possible, following local villagers who scampered up a nearby hill to safety.
"I have seen tsunami disasters happening here and there on TV, and now I have experienced one myself," Idi said. "It was really scary, scarier than what I've seen on TV."
