Indonesia once again found itself under siege from a killer wave. A tsunami was generated by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale that shook the island of Java on Monday.
After bulletins failed to reach the region because no warning system was in place, The AP reports that frantic tourists and villagers shouted "Tsunami! Tsunami!" as the 6 foot high wave approached.
The tsunami crashed into the beach resorts and fishing villages of Java, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds missing. Many climbed trees and fled to higher ground to escape while others piled into inland mosques in order to pray.
The tsunami reportedly caused the greatest damage in Pangandaran, the beach resort and fishing village on the south coast of Indonesia, reports UPI.
Government geologists told the Antara news service the center of the tremor was around 385 miles south of Bandung, 20 miles below sea level.
Fitri Sudikah of the Indonesian Red Cross told the New York Times in a telephone interview that most of the dead were swept out to sea and then carried back in again. Indonesian rescue teams continue to comb the southern coasts of Java island in the search for victims.
Indonesia lies in a zone known as the Pacific "ring of fire", which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
This tsunami was far smaller than the one that killed more than 200,000 people in the Indonesian province of Aceh and elsewhere around the Indian Ocean, reports UPI.
In May, central Java was struck by a 6.3 magnitude quake that killed close to 6,000.
-- Compiled from wire reports
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