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108 dead, 500 missing after tsunami hits Indonesia
AFP
JAKARTA (AFP) - – At least 108 people were killed and hundreds are missing after a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake smashed into a remote Indonesian island chain, officials said Tuesday.
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck in the Mentawai Islands area west of Sumatra late Monday, generating waves as high as three metres (10 feet) that swept away 10 villages.
Hendri Dori Satoko, a lawmaker in the Mentawai Islands, told MetroTV: "Our latest data from the crisis centre showed that 108 people have been killed and 502 are still missing."
Disaster Management Agency spokesman Agolo Suparto said: "Ten villages have been swept away by the tsunami."
The missing included a group of Australian surfers, though Australian media reports later suggested they had been found safe and well.
Health Ministry Crisis Centre head Mudjiharto said the Mentawai waves reached up to three metres high and waters swept as far as 600 metres (yards) inland on South Pagai island, the hardest hit.
"Eighty percent of buildings in Muntei village have been damaged by the waves and many people are missing there," Mudjiharto said.
He said medical personnel were on their way to the worst-hit areas in helicopters but rescue efforts had been hampered by disruption to communications in the region.
There are no commercial flights to the island and travelling by ferry from Sumatra can take at least half a day.
AFP
JAKARTA (AFP) - – At least 108 people were killed and hundreds are missing after a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake smashed into a remote Indonesian island chain, officials said Tuesday.
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck in the Mentawai Islands area west of Sumatra late Monday, generating waves as high as three metres (10 feet) that swept away 10 villages.
Hendri Dori Satoko, a lawmaker in the Mentawai Islands, told MetroTV: "Our latest data from the crisis centre showed that 108 people have been killed and 502 are still missing."
Disaster Management Agency spokesman Agolo Suparto said: "Ten villages have been swept away by the tsunami."
The missing included a group of Australian surfers, though Australian media reports later suggested they had been found safe and well.
Health Ministry Crisis Centre head Mudjiharto said the Mentawai waves reached up to three metres high and waters swept as far as 600 metres (yards) inland on South Pagai island, the hardest hit.
"Eighty percent of buildings in Muntei village have been damaged by the waves and many people are missing there," Mudjiharto said.
He said medical personnel were on their way to the worst-hit areas in helicopters but rescue efforts had been hampered by disruption to communications in the region.
There are no commercial flights to the island and travelling by ferry from Sumatra can take at least half a day.
