OMEN
07-19-2006, 11:38 PM
PANGANDARAN: An aftershock in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged region and a new tremor off the southwestern Java coast sowed fear on Wednesday as the toll from Monday's disaster climbed to 550.
Rescuers pulled bodies from the debris and aid trickled into worst-hit Pangandaran town while a search continued for about 275 people still missing after the tsunami smashed into a 300-km (185 mile) stretch of coast along southern Java.
A light aftershock that shook Pangandaran beach sent some people running, while others headed inland on motorcycles and cars as rumours circulated of a fresh tsunami.
Hours later, tall buildings swayed as an earthquake struck the Indonesian capital Jakarta and nearby parts of Java island, prompting people in several areas to flee from high-rise offices and homes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake's strength was 6.2 at its epicentre at the Indian Ocean end of the Sunda Strait off the southwestern tip of Java, said Fauzi, an official at the national earthquake centre.
Wednesday's quake was felt in many areas of western Java, but the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said it posed no risk of a tsunami. The authoritative United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.0 on its Web site.
Indonesian media questioned why there was no warning ahead of Monday's killer waves despite regional efforts to set up early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The Jakarta Post said in an editorial the disaster agency had done "nothing of note to increase people's preparedness for disasters".
Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla told reporters the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.
Along the coastline, heavy equipment was deployed to help in the search for bodies left under the rubble when the waves rolled in after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake.
MISSING FISHERMEN
Five bodies were found on beaches in the Pangandaran area alone early on Wednesday, Red Cross official Mehmet Selamat said.
"There are many fishermen missing." he said.
Search and rescue official Hadi Tugiman said he expected the search effort to continue until at least the weekend.
Government officials said as many as 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages, farms and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier.
Trucks started to arrive with aid for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, had fled to hills above the coast.
More than a dozen corpses in yellow body bags lay in a makeshift morgue near the devastated Pangandaran beach, a popular tourist spot known for its black-sand shore and barbecue seafood.
A man wailed as he held the arm of a dead woman.
At the end of a cemetery on the shoreline, soldiers operated two bulldozers to create a mass grave for 30 bodies, while a crowd gathered to watch.
Officials said four foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian, were known killed in the quake.
"I saw a house coming towards me, but I couldn't run. It stopped 20 metres from me," Anne-Marie Kingmans, a Dutch tourist who survived, said.
"We heard no warning. People just came running," she said, adding that the waves washed a boat into the lobby of her hotel.
More than 4,000 people were staying in refugee camps in the hills above Pangandaran, Red Cross official Waar Soewardi said.
Others found refuge under homemade shelters or stayed inside mosques at Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port, among the hardest-hit spots.
WRONG PREDICTION
No tsunami warning system was set up for the southern coast of Java after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left 230,000 killed or missing, including 170,000 in Indonesia.
Some officials considered the area, about 270km (170 miles) southeast of Jakarta, less likely to be hit by a tsunami than others in Indonesia.
"It turned out that our prediction was wrong," the Jakarta Post quoted Surono, a senior official of the country's earthquake agency, as saying. "Now, we believe that there are no tsunami-free areas along the southern coast of Java."
Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
Reuters
Rescuers pulled bodies from the debris and aid trickled into worst-hit Pangandaran town while a search continued for about 275 people still missing after the tsunami smashed into a 300-km (185 mile) stretch of coast along southern Java.
A light aftershock that shook Pangandaran beach sent some people running, while others headed inland on motorcycles and cars as rumours circulated of a fresh tsunami.
Hours later, tall buildings swayed as an earthquake struck the Indonesian capital Jakarta and nearby parts of Java island, prompting people in several areas to flee from high-rise offices and homes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake's strength was 6.2 at its epicentre at the Indian Ocean end of the Sunda Strait off the southwestern tip of Java, said Fauzi, an official at the national earthquake centre.
Wednesday's quake was felt in many areas of western Java, but the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said it posed no risk of a tsunami. The authoritative United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.0 on its Web site.
Indonesian media questioned why there was no warning ahead of Monday's killer waves despite regional efforts to set up early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The Jakarta Post said in an editorial the disaster agency had done "nothing of note to increase people's preparedness for disasters".
Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla told reporters the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.
Along the coastline, heavy equipment was deployed to help in the search for bodies left under the rubble when the waves rolled in after a 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake.
MISSING FISHERMEN
Five bodies were found on beaches in the Pangandaran area alone early on Wednesday, Red Cross official Mehmet Selamat said.
"There are many fishermen missing." he said.
Search and rescue official Hadi Tugiman said he expected the search effort to continue until at least the weekend.
Government officials said as many as 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages, farms and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier.
Trucks started to arrive with aid for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, had fled to hills above the coast.
More than a dozen corpses in yellow body bags lay in a makeshift morgue near the devastated Pangandaran beach, a popular tourist spot known for its black-sand shore and barbecue seafood.
A man wailed as he held the arm of a dead woman.
At the end of a cemetery on the shoreline, soldiers operated two bulldozers to create a mass grave for 30 bodies, while a crowd gathered to watch.
Officials said four foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian, were known killed in the quake.
"I saw a house coming towards me, but I couldn't run. It stopped 20 metres from me," Anne-Marie Kingmans, a Dutch tourist who survived, said.
"We heard no warning. People just came running," she said, adding that the waves washed a boat into the lobby of her hotel.
More than 4,000 people were staying in refugee camps in the hills above Pangandaran, Red Cross official Waar Soewardi said.
Others found refuge under homemade shelters or stayed inside mosques at Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port, among the hardest-hit spots.
WRONG PREDICTION
No tsunami warning system was set up for the southern coast of Java after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left 230,000 killed or missing, including 170,000 in Indonesia.
Some officials considered the area, about 270km (170 miles) southeast of Jakarta, less likely to be hit by a tsunami than others in Indonesia.
"It turned out that our prediction was wrong," the Jakarta Post quoted Surono, a senior official of the country's earthquake agency, as saying. "Now, we believe that there are no tsunami-free areas along the southern coast of Java."
Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
Reuters