Tsunami Hits Beach Resort In Jakarta

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Indonesian Quake, Tsunami Toll Reaches 201 on Java (Update3) July 18 (Bloomberg)

 

Indonesia's government declared a state of emergency in areas on the south coast of Java struck by yesterday's earthquake and tsunami where the death toll rose to 201, according to the Health Ministry.

 

At least seven of those who died were foreigners from countries including Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands, Rustam S. Pakaya, head of crisis management at the Health Ministry said by telephone. A further 125 are still missing and 295 were injured in the tsunami that displaced about 35,000, he said.

 

"We don't have the exact figures yet and we don't know how many are missing,'' Endi Budiarto, a West Java police spokesman, said by telephone. "We are focusing our efforts on finding the dead and rescuing those who are still alive. About 400 policemen and women are involved in the rescue efforts.''

 

The magnitude 7.7 quake, the world's strongest since May, struck yesterday afternoon beneath the seabed about half way between Christmas Island and the south coast of Java. It's the third tsunami to cause deaths in Indonesia since December 2004 when more than 220,000 were killed as giant waves swept across the Indian Ocean.

 

The government declared a state of emergency for a month in the affected areas, Vice President Jusuf Kalla in a live interview with ElShinta news radio.

 

Continuing Aftershocks

 

Aftershocks continued in the south Java region with a quake of magnitude 5.7 was registered at 7:15 a.m. today, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

 

There were 19 aftershocks, of which 17 were of more than 5 magnitude, the Web site shows. Earthquakes exceeding 5 may cause damage and loss of life in populated areas depending on their depth.

 

Three of the aftershocks were magnitude 6, classified as ``strong'' by USGS, and higher. The initial shock was classified as a ``major'' earthquake. A magnitude 7.9 quake struck Tonga on May 4, causing a tsunami.

 

Java is the world's most populated island with more than 180 million of Indonesia's 238 million people living there.

 

The archipelago sits on one arc of what is called the Pacific Rim of Fire, marked by hundreds of seismic fault lines along the earth's tectonic plates. The south coast of Java lies in a zone where the Eurasian Plate meets the Indo-Australian Plate.

 

Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency, rated yesterday's earthquake at 6.8 in magnitude, and the 7:15 a.m. aftershock today at 5.8.

 

'Leftover Energy'

 

"We have been seeing the leftover energy being exerted,'' Said Budi Waluyo, the department head for earthquake early information at the agency. "It happens in big earthquakes, and it's normal. More aftershocks are still possible.''

 

Of the dead from yesterday's disaster, more than 75 people were from Ciamis district, District Secretary Subur Dwiyono said today by telephone. Ciamis has 90 kilometers of coastline.

 

The earthquake, felt in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, 360 kilometers away from the epicenter, was followed within 15 minutes by a warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Indonesia and Australia. It later revised the alert to say it didn't expect a more widespread tsunami.

 

More than 220,000 people died in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand and eight other Indian Ocean countries that were struck on Dec. 26 2004 by a tsunami caused by a 9.1- magnitude earthquake near the island of Sumatra.

 

In June, more than 200 people died in floods and landslides on the island of Sulawesi. An earthquake on May 27, the worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami, killed more than 5,700 people. Areas around Mount Merapi in central Java were also evacuated earlier this year amid concerns the volcano would erupt before the alert status was lowered on July 12.

 

At 3:48 a.m. this morning, an earthquake measuring 5.4 struck 43.5 kilometers beneath the seabed in Minahasa, North Sulawesi province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website. The epicenter was 1,590 kilometers from Jakarta. There was no danger of a tsunami.