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Major Tsunami Hits Indonesia 5 people were already reported dead	By Ruxandra Adam, News Editor 17th of July 2006, 11:58 GMT Adjust text size:


A 7.2 degree magnitude earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean 240 kilometers southwest of Jawa's western coast at around 3.24 p.m, caused two-meter high tsunami to crash into the beach resort on Monday, killing at least five persons and massively damaging hotels, restaurants and homes in the area, the Indonesian President and eye witnesses reported, quoted by Associated Press. The earthquake was followed by a 6.1 magnitude aftershock within an hour. According to a woman who was interviewed by el-Shinta radio station, the flooding on the Pangandaran beach in the western part of Java determined local residents to flee towards a local hill to escape the wave:" All the houses are destroyed along the beach. Small hotels are completely destroyed and at least one restaurant was washed away." She also added that she could spot at least three dead bodies on the debris. Upon hearing that at least two seaside towns were hit by a tsunami, Indonesian Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa issued an official statement in which it urged the local population on the southern coast to take refuge inland and not to panic. The Japanese Meteorological Agency was very prompt in announcing the quake, which it assessed that could trigger a tsunami whose potential of affecting coastlines along Java, Sumatra and Lesser Sunda islands in Indonesia, is quite great. It added that Australia's Cocos and Christmas islands may also be affected and sent tsunami warnings in those locations. Indonesia was also the scene of a massive series of tsunamis coming from the Indian Ocean in 2004, which killed at least 216,000 people, most of them from the Indonesian province of Aceh. In addition to that, a 5.9 magnitude earth quake shook Java Island on May 27th this year, devastating a large part of it and killing around 5,800 people. The reason why Indonesia continues to be hit by such a large tsunamis is because it stands on the Pacific "Ring of Fire', a name which actually highlights the extraordinary destructive potential of the arc of volcanoes and fault lines that are located in the Pacific Basin.

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