lamanqu.com – A recently updated a tsunami in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait struck two of the country’s islands without warning, recently reported killing at least 62 people and injuring almost 600, officials said Sunday.
A three-foot wave, apparently caused by volcanic activity on the island of Anak Krakatau, swept ashore on Saturday night along the coasts of western Java and southern Sumatra.
No earthquake was recorded and no tsunami warning was issued to people in the area, said Rahmat Triyono, earthquake and tsunami chief at Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
“We don’t know what caused the tsunami yet,” he said. “We suspect it was caused by the Anak Krakatau activities.”
Officials reported deaths and destruction on both Java and Sumatra. The Sunda Strait lies between the islands, connecting the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The tsunami also cut off the road from Pandeglang to the nearby regency of Serang, officials said.
The area hit by the tsunami is popular with tourists from Jakarta, the capital, and many people were at the beach on Saturday when the wave struck around 9:30 p.m. +7 GMT
A video posted on YouTube showed the wave hitting a rock band as it performed on a stage on Tanjung Lesung Beach in Pandeglang. The group, Seventeen, said that the bass player and road manager had died and that three members of the band were missing. Ifan vocalist his wife reported was swept now the wife Dylan Sahara just found and still alive, being recovered in medical center nearby Anyer beach
The band was performing at a gathering for families of employees of Perusahaan Listrik Negara, the state electricity company. Company officials said that 14 people had died and that 89 were unaccounted for Anak Krakatau, or the Child of Krakatau, emerged nearly a century ago from the volcanic crater of Krakatau, also called Krakatoa, which erupted in 1883 in one of the largest such events in recorded history.
The volcanic island has been growing steadily ever since, and in recent weeks has been erupting frequently.
Officials said the tsunami might have been set off by an undersea landslide caused by volcanic activity on the island of Anak Krakatau, pictured in September.
Mr. Rahmat said no tsunami warning had been issued to the public because such warnings are prompted by tectonic activity, and no earthquake had occurred.
