Rescue teams used their bare hands, diggers and other heavy equipment to haul debris from the stricken area around the Sunda Strait, as thousands were evacuated to higher ground.

The powerful tsunami struck without any warning on Saturday night, sweeping over popular beaches of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java and inundating tourist hotels and coastal settlements.

More than 1,000 people were injured and the death toll “will continue to rise”, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

    Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave that left a tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber and rubble at Carita beach, a popular spot for day-trippers on the west coast of Java.

“The military and police are searching the ruins to see if we can find more victims,” said Dody Ruswandi, a senior official at the disaster agency, adding that the rescue effort was likely to last a week.

In devastated Sukarame village, Sunarti waded through knee-deep water as she searched for belongings outside her destroyed house — and waited for aid to arrive.

“There’s been no help at all so far,” the 61-year-told AFP from the flattened hamlet.

“Some people are starving.”

Indonesian president Joko Widodo visited the area Monday.

It was the third major natural disaster to strike Indonesia in the space of six months, following a series of powerful earthquakes on the island of Lombok in July and August and a quake-tsunami in September that killed around 2,200 people in Palu on Sulawesi island, with thousands more missing and presumed dead.

The vast archipelago nation is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

– ‘Saw the water coming’ –

Experts say Saturday’s tsunami was likely triggered by a massive underwater landslide following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano in the Sunda Strait.

Unlike those caused by earthquakes, which trigger alert systems, such tsunamis give authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending threat.

“It happened very quickly,” said survivor Ade Junaedi.

“I was chatting with a guest at our place when my wife opened the door and she suddenly screamed in panic. I thought there was a fire, but when I walked to the door I saw the water coming.”

Richard Teeuw, a geohazard expert from the University of Portsmouth in England, said the eruption and landslide may well have destabilised the volcano, heightening the risk of another tsunami.

“The likelihood of further tsunamis in the Sunda Strait will remain high while Anak Krakatoa volcano is going through its current active phase because that might trigger further submarine landslides,” Teeuw said.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed a wall of water suddenly crashing into a concert by pop group “Seventeen” — hurling band members off the stage and then flooding into the audience.

Two band members were killed along with its manager, while three others, including the lead singer’s wife, are missing.

Front man Riefian Fajarsyah posted a picture online of he and his wife kissing in Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

“Today is your birthday — I want wish you a happy birthday in person. Come home soon, honey,” he wrote in the caption of the photo, which was posted Sunday.

Anak Krakatoa, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, emerged around 1928 in the crater left by Krakatoa, whose massive eruption in 1883 killed at least 36,000 people and affected global weather patterns for years.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the “powerful waves” reached a height of 30-90 centimetres (1-3 feet).

Oxfam and other international aid agencies said they would help in the aftermath, as local rescuers evacuated the injured and set up tarpaulins to provide shelter.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said there had been no warning about the Sunda Strait tsunami because Indonesia did not yet have any early warning system for tsunamis caused by underwater landslides or volcanoes in the sea.

He said that, according to a report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the tsunami that happened on Saturday night was likely to have been caused by an underwater landslide caused by volcanic activity of Mount Anak Krakatau, combined with an unusually high tidal wave because of the full moon.

The BMKG stated in a press release that a tsunami hit coastal areas of western Banten and southern Lampung at 9:27 p.m. Earlier on Saturday evening, the BMKG had said the disaster was not a tsunami but a high tidal wave.

At midday on Sunday, the confirmed death toll of the tsunami had reached 168, while 745 people were reported injured and at least 30 missing. At least 585 homes have been destroyed, nine hotels severely damaged, 60 restaurants damaged and 350 boats damaged.

The western coast of Banten is a popular tourist destination. Many of the victims were vacationers.

The coastal areas most severely affected by the tsunami were Pandeglang regency, Serang, and South Lampung. In Pandeglang regency, most casualties were reported at the Mutiara Carita Cottage Hotel, the Tanjung Lesung Hotel and Sambolo village.

“According to preliminary data, there are no foreign casualties, only Indonesians,” he said.

Sutopo said the BMKG, the Geological Institute, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs were continuing their investigation to confirm whether or not the tsunami had been caused by Mount Anak Krakatau’s volcanic activity.

“This is because the activity [of the volcano] was relatively low yesterday. There was only a flow of magma and the hurling of incandescent rock, much smaller than the eruptions in October and November,” Sutopo said.

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Saturday after a volcano known as the “child” of Krakatoa erupted, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed a wall of water suddenly crashing into a concert by pop group “Seventeen” — hurling band members off the stage and then flooding into the audience.

In a tearful Instagram post, frontman Riefian Fajarsyah said the band’s bassist and road manager had been killed and his wife was missing.

Search and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with 222 people confirmed dead, 843 people injured and 28 missing, Nugroho said.

Tsunamis triggered by volcanic eruptions are relatively rare, caused by the sudden displacement of water or “slope failure”, according to the International Tsunami Information Centre.

Unlike those caused by earthquakes, which trigger alert systems, they give authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending threat.

The destructive wave left a trail of uprooted trees and debris strewn across beaches. A tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber and rubble was dragged inland at Carita beach, a popular spot for day-trippers on the west coast of Java.

Photographer Oystein Andersen described how he was caught up in the disaster while on the beach taking photos of Anak Krakatoa.

“I suddenly saw a big wave,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“I had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed 15-20m inland. (The) next wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road behind it.”

Asep Perangkat said he was with his family when the wave surged through Carita, carving a swathe of destruction, dragging cars and shipping containers.

“Buildings on the edge of the beach were destroyed. Trees and electric poles fell to the ground,” he told AFP.

In Lampung province, on the other side of the strait, Lutfi Al Rasyid fled the beach in Kalianda city, fearing for his life.

“I could not start my motorbike so I left it and I ran… I just prayed and ran as far as I could,” the 23-year-old told AFP.

Kathy Mueller from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the toll was likely to rise as the conditions on the ground became clearer.

“The situation, and the death toll, will remain fluid over the next days and even weeks,” she told AFP.

Aid workers were helping to evacuate the injured and bring in clean water, tarpaulins and provide shelter, she added, saying the group was preparing for the possibility of diseases breaking out in the tsunami zone.

– Initial error –

Anak Krakatoa, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, emerged around 1928 in the crater left by Krakatoa, which erupted in 1883 killing at least 36,000 people.

“The cause of the undersea landslide was due to volcanic activity of Anak Krakatoa, which coincided with a high tide due to the full moon,” Nugroho told reporters in Yogyakarta.

Professor David Rothery from The Open University said that the proximity of the volcano to the coast gave authorities very little time to act.

“Tsunami warning buoys are positioned to warn of tsunamis originated by earthquakes at underwater tectonic plate boundaries. Even if there had been such a buoy right next to Anak Krakatau, this is so close to the affected shorelines that warning time would have been minimal given the high speeds at which tsunami waves travel,” he said.

Indonesian authorities initially said the wave was not a tsunami, but instead a tidal surge and urged the public not to panic.

Nugroho later apologised, saying because there was no earthquake it had been difficult to ascertain the cause of the incident early on.

“If there is an initial error we’re sorry,” he wrote on Twitter.

The wave swamped parts of the coast around the Sunda Strait, leaving at least 164 people dead in worst-affected Pandeglang district on Java’s western tip.

Large numbers of casualties were recorded at two hotels in the area, Nugroho said, without elaborating.

Eleven people died further north in Serang, while 48 were killed in South Lampung, on Sumatra island.

“This number is predicted to increase,” Nugroho said.

Heavy equipment was being transported to badly hit areas to help search for victims and evacuation posts and public kitchens were being set up for evacuees, he added.

According to Indonesia’s geological agency, Anak Krakatoa had been showing signs of heightened activity for days, spewing plumes of ash thousands of metres into the air.

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

Most recently in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island a quake and tsunami in September killed thousands of people.

On December 26, 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

Claas Relotius, 33, resigned this month after admitting to making up stories and inventing protagonists in more than a dozen articles in the magazine’s print and online editions.

Spiegel said it now had information that Relotius allegedly launched a campaign for readers to give money to help subjects of an article he wrote but that the bank details he gave directed the funds to his own account.

“Der Spiegel will give all the information it collects to public prosecutors as part of a criminal complaint,” it said on its website.

Spiegel said concerned readers had in recent days reported Relotius’s call for donations purportedly for orphaned Syrian children living on the streets of Turkey.

It said it had been unaware of the campaign and that it was not immediately clear how much money was raised from the appeal, apparently made by email to readers who contacted him about the story.

Spiegel published the article by Relotius in July 2016 but a Turkish photographer who worked with him on the piece has since noted significant inaccuracies.

The magazine said it now believes Relotius may have simply made up one of the main protagonists, whom the article described as young siblings.

Relotius described his attempts to help the children in a subsequent collection of articles, including a months-long effort to bring the children to Germany to be adopted by a family. Spiegel said this also appeared to be a lie.

In its most recent edition, the magazine said the scam was the “worst thing that can happen to an editorial team”.

Acknowledging the damage to faith in its own work and the media in general, it apologised promised to “do everything to boost our credibility again.”

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) following the eruption of a volcano known as the “child” of the legendary Krakatoa, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Search and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with 168 confirmed dead, 745 people injured and 30 reported missing across three regions, he said.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed a wall of water suddenly crashing into an open-air concert by pop group “Seventeen” — hurling band members off the stage and then flooding into the audience.

In a tearful Instagram post, frontman Riefian Fajarsyah said the band’s bassist and road manager had been killed.

Images of the aftermath of the tsunami in coastal areas showed a trail of uprooted trees and debris strewn across beaches. A tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber and rubble was dragged inland at Carita beach, a popular day-tripping spot on the west coast of Java.

Asep Perangkat, who fled Carita beach Saturday night, said he was with his family when the wave surged through the town, carving a path of destruction.

“Cars were dragged about 10 metres and so were containers,” Perangkat told AFP.

“Buildings on the edge of the beach were destroyed, trees and electric poles fell to the ground.

“All the residents that are safe ran to the forest,” he said.

In Lampung province, on the other side of the strait, Lutfi Al Rasyid said he fled the beach in Kalianda city in fear for his life.

“I could not start my motorbike so I left it and I ran… I just prayed and ran as far as I could,” the 23-year-old told AFP.

Dozens of ambulance cars have been deployed to Tanjung Lesung, Panimbang, in Pandeglang regency, Banten by the local administration and the private sector.

“Volunteers have reached Tanjung Lesung for search and rescue,” Edi, 40, a resident of Tanjung Lesung, who is also a survivor of the tsunami told Antara news agency on Sunday.

Edi said the tsunami lasted for 10 minutes. He was carried by the waves until the tide died down, and was left with injuries.

Some of the tsunami survivors have been brought to Panimbang community health center (Puskesmas) in Pandeglang regency, Banten, which has recorded a death toll of 10 so far.

The center has seen 63 patients with injuries such as broken bones, bruises as well as breathing difficulties caused by consuming too much sea water.

“All 10 people who died were tourists in Tanjung Lesung,” Iwan, a staff member at the health center told Antara news agency.

On the other side of the Sunda Strait in Bandarlampung, survivors took shelter at the Lampung governor’s office.

Since Sunday morning, residents have been going to the office, many bringing clothes and beds.

Lampung regional secretary Hamartono Ahadis asked residents to stay alert.

“Don’t easily trust information saying there will be a tsunami in the city. However, residents should remain vigilant and be careful should the high waves come again,” he said as quoted by Antara.

At least seven people died and 89 were injured after tidal waves hit South Lampung on Saturday at around 10:00 p.m.

Head of the Lampung Disaster Mitigation Agency, I Ketut Sukerta, said there were four severely affected districts in South Lampung, including Kalianda, Rajabasa, Sidomulyo and Katibung.

He said search and rescue had been underway since last night and would be focused on the four districts.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the latest death toll as of Sunday at 1 p.m. was 168 people, with 750 injured and 35 reported missing. Hundreds of houses and buildings have been damaged, and heavy equipment has been deployed for recovery efforts.

Data from the Banten Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) received by The Jakarta Postreveals that a total of five beaches in Banten’s Pandeglang regency were affected by the disaster, namely Tanjung Lesung, Sumur, Teluk Lada, Panimbang and Carita. The Banten BPBD said at least 43 houses and 10 hotels were severely damaged. (ars/evi)

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9.30 pm (1430 GMT) following the eruption of a volcano known as the “child” of the legendary Krakatoa, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Search and rescue teams were scouring rubble for survivors, with at least 584 people injured and twenty reported missing across three regions.

Images broadcast on television showed the wave pushed a tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber, rubble and flotsam inland from the coast at Carita beach, a popular day-tripping spot on the west coast of Java.

Elsewhere it uprooted trees and left a trail of debris strewn across the ground.

Muhammad Bintang, who was at Carita beach when the wave hit, described a sudden surge of water that plunged the tourist spot into darkness.

“We arrived at 9pm for our holiday and suddenly the water came — it went dark, the electricity is off,” the 15-year-old told AFP.

“It’s messy outside and we still cannot access the road.”

In Lampung province, on the other side of the strait, Lutfi Al Rasyid said he fled the beach in Kalianda city in fear for his life.

“I could not start my motorbike so I left it and I ran… I just prayed and ran as far as I could,” the 23-year-old told AFP.

– Initial error –

Authorities say the tsunami may have been triggered by an abnormal tidal surge due to a new moon and an underwater landslide following the eruption of Anak Krakatoa, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.

“The combination caused a sudden tsunami that hit the coast,” Nugroho said, but added that Indonesia’s geological agency was working to ascertain exactly how it happened.

He added that the death toll would likely increase.

Video footage posted to social media by Nugroho showed panicked residents clutching flashlights and fleeing for higher ground.

Indonesian authorities initially claimed the wave was not a tsunami, but instead a tidal surge and urged the public not to panic.

Nugroho later apologised for the mistake on Twitter, saying because there was no earthquake it had been difficult to ascertain the cause of the incident early on.

“If there is an initial error we’re sorry,” he wrote.

The wave swamped parts of the coast around the Sunda Strait, but was most damaging in Pandeglang district, on Java’s western tip, where at least 33 people died and 491 people were injured.

Three people died further north in Serang, while seven were killed in South Lampung, on Sumatra island.

Heavy equipment was being transported to badly-hit areas to help search for victims, Nugroho said, adding evacuation posts and public kitchens were being set up for evacuees.

Abu Salim, a member of the Tagana disaster volunteer group, said he helped evacuate victims in Banten province.

“We evacuated the victims who died and were injured, we took them to health clinics … Most of them suffered from broken bones,” he said, adding he feared more were missing.

Although relatively rare, submarine volcanic eruptions can cause tsunamis due to the sudden displacement of water or slope failure, according to the International Tsunami Information Centre.

Anak Krakatoa is a small volcanic island that emerged from the ocean half a century after Krakatoa’s deadly 1883 eruption which killed more than 36,000 people.

According to Indonesia’s geological agency, Anak Krakatoa had been showing signs of heightened activity for days, spewing plumes of ash thousands of metres into the air.

The volcano erupted again just after 9pm on Saturday, the agency said.

An eruption just before 4pm on Saturday lasted around 13 minutes and sent plumes of ash soaring hundreds of meters into the sky.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, where tectonic plates collide and a large portion of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Most recently in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island a quake and tsunami killed thousands of people.

In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

Anak Krakatoa is one of 127 active volcanoes which run the length of the archipelago.

The band confirmed via a press release that bassist M. Awal Purbani, also known as Bani, and road manager Oki Wijaya passed away following the disaster.

Seventeen was performing at an event held by state electricity company PLN when the tsunami hit the stage where the band was performing, located on the shore of Tanjung Lesung beach, at 09:30 pm.

The band is still looking for four people in their team, including Herman Sikumbang (guitarist), Andi Windu Darmawan (drummer), Ujang (crew member), and Dylan Sahara (wife of vocalist Ifan).

According to the statement, they had been evacuated to nearby clinics, and a search and rescue team had been deployed to the area. The band is unable to go anywhere due to the lack of transportation.

Frontman Ifan uploaded a video to his Instagram account, confirming in tears that several band members and his wife had not yet been found and asking for prayers from his followers.

The western territory is a tinderbox of ethnic and religious divisions and security forces have clashed with both Rohingya insurgents and much better armed Rakhine fighters from the mostly Buddhist Arakan Army.

Private Aung Kyaw Thet went missing in action after an ambush last week by unknown assailants in Maungdaw township near the border with Bangladesh.

His body was found two days ago with “gunshot wounds in his face, arm and leg near a hill inside the other country,” according to government-backed Global New Light of Myanmar.

The ambush happened the same day that two ethnic Rakhine Buddhist men disappeared while fishing in the same township and were later found with their throats slit, prompting the army to launch local “clearance operations” and raising fears of renewed large-scale violence.

Sunday’s report in Global New Light did not identify the alleged perpetrators of the shooting but said authorities found foxholes near the scene, bullet casings and biscuits manufactured in Bangladesh.

More than 720,000 Rohingya fled northern Rakhine to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority in August 2017.

UN investigators want senior Myanmar generals to be prosecuted for genocide but the army says it was responding to attacks on border guard posts by Rohingya insurgents that killed around a dozen security forces.

The army this week called a rare ceasefire against ethnic armed groups in the northeast of the country but Rakhine state was not included.

Analysts say the military left Rakhine out because it does not want the Arakan Army to gain a foothold in the state as well as lingering concern over the less powerful Rohingya militants, who call themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.