Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake caused the giant wave.
PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (AP) -- A tsunami crashed into beach resorts and fishing villages on Java island Monday, killing at least 110 people and leaving scores missing after bulletins failed to reach the region because no warning system was in place.
The coastal area was spared by the devastating Asian tsunami of 2004, but many residents recognized the danger when they saw the sea recede.
Frantic tourists and villagers shouted "Tsunami! Tsunami!" as the more than 6-foot-high wave approached, some climbing trees or fleeing to higher ground to escape. Others crowded into inland mosques to pray.
"We saw a big wall of black water. I ran with my son in my arms, and when I looked back, the waves were at our house; they destroyed our house," said Ita Anita, who was on the beach with her 11-month-old child and other relatives. "The water knocked me down, my son slipped out of my hands and was taken by the water."
Anita, 20, and her husband live 30 feet from the beach in Pangandaran, a resort popular with tourists which appeared to be the hardest-hit area. Also on the beach were her son, mother, sister, brother, nephews. All except her mother are missing.
She said a series of large waves as tall as coconut trees came, and then the water began to recede.
"When the wave receded, there was total panic. Everybody was looking for everybody," Anita said from her hospital bed at the Pangandaran medical clinic. She said she was swept inland by the wave into a rice paddy, tossed around and dragged across asphalt before she managed to climb to safety on the roof of a house.
Regional agencies had warned that a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck 150 miles off Indonesia's southern coast was strong enough to create a tsunami on Java. But there was no warning system for those on the southern coast.
Casualties
At the Pangandaran medical clinic, 46 bodies were laid out in yellow body bags, and weeping family members were coming in and identifying the dead.
The Indonesian Red Cross, police and district officials said at least 82 people were killed and 77 others were unaccounted for, most in Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap. El-Shinta radio reported four other deaths.
"We are still evacuating areas and cross-checking data," Red Cross official Arifin Muhadi said.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.