By the morning of last Tuesday, the number of victims of the tsunami that hit the southern coast of the Indonesian island of Java the previous day exceeded two hundred people. However, rescuers note that the final death toll will be much higher – more than 160 people are still listed as missing. There are foreigners among the dead. According to preliminary information, the victims included a Pakistani, a Swede and a Dutchman, and several foreigners are listed as missing.
As local authorities explain, despite the experience of 2004, when a devastating tsunami that hit Southeast Asia caused the deaths of about 170,000 people in Indonesia, a tsunami warning system never appeared on Java. Therefore, numerous casualties could not be avoided this time as well.
On Monday, seismologists recorded two powerful tremors with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale, occurring at 11:19 (Kyiv time) at a depth of more than 30 km beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean, 180 km from the southern coast of Java. According to Indonesians, ground shaking was especially felt in multi-storey buildings. But in the coastal resort area of Pangandaran (about 270 km southeast of Jakarta, West Java), located closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, there were mainly fishermen's huts and small tourist cottages, so people hardly felt the tremors. Only a few minutes before the tsunami arrived, when the sea characteristically retreated from the shoreline, it became clear that a wave was approaching.
Seeing the two-meter wave, tourists and local residents began climbing trees or fleeing to higher ground. Others ran into mosques and prayed there, reports Reuters. "We saw a big wall of black water. I ran with my son in my arms, looking back," one tourist said. "The waves destroyed our cottage." According to her, the water in places reached the height of coconut palms, reports CBS.
The waves literally leveled Pangandaran: at a distance of more than 500 m from the coastline, there was practically not a single intact building left. Everywhere there were destroyed fishing boats, ruins of residential buildings, cafes, restaurants and hotels, and between the trees lay the bodies of the dead. According to local authorities, at least 23 thousand residents of Java remain homeless; many of them had their homes destroyed, while others left their homes fearing a new tsunami, reports Reuters. The disaster also affected the port of Cilacap (Central Java province), located about 40 km east of Pangandaran. According to unofficial data, about 50 people became victims of the tsunami there.
The first powerful tremors were followed by a series of weaker ground vibrations. By Tuesday, their number had reached thirty, but they no longer pose a tsunami threat.
According to local authorities, their main goal now is to provide all victims with food, clean drinking water and temporary housing. Meanwhile, several units of the Indonesian armed forces and volunteers continue to search for the dead and missing on the shore of Pangandaran and in other affected areas.
Semyon STOLYAROV.
Gazeta.Ru