JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia’s disaster agency said 43 people were dead and another 584 injured after a tsunami struck coastal areas around the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java on Saturday night (Dec 22).
“We’re recapping reports of impacts from the tsunami that struck in the Sunda Strait, particularly Serang, Pandeglang and South Lampung,” Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Metro TV on Sunday morning, referring to the tidal wave linked to an earlier eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano.
“It was caused by a combination of an undersea landslide resulting from volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau and a tidal wave,” he said in a statement earlier.
According to a statement from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), “the tsunami hit several areas of the Sunda Strait, including beaches in Pandeglang regency, Serang, and South Lampung”.
The tsunami struck at around 9.30pm local time on Saturday night, it said.
Endan Permana, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency in Pandeglang, told Metro TV police were providing immediate assistance to victims in Tanjung Lesung in Banten province, a popular tourist getaway not far from Jakarta, as emergency workers had not arrived in the area yet.
“Many are missing,” Permana said.
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