69 people are dead after a powerful earthquake caused a tsunami to form and strike Indonesia’s Java island. (CNN VIDEO)
Regional agencies had issued bulletins that the 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake was strong enough to send a killer wave steaming toward the country worst hit by the 2004 tsunami, but they did not reach the victims because the island has no warning system.
The hardest-hit area appeared to be Pangandaran, an idyllic beach resort long popular with local and foreign tourists, where witnesses said people shouted “
Tsunami! Tsunami!” and climbed trees or crowded inland mosques as the wave approached.Red Cross official Arifin Muhadi told The Associated Press that 69 people were killed, most in Pangandaran, and that 77 others were missing.
“We are still evacuating areas and cross-checking data,” he said.
The full scope of the natural disaster won’t be known for a few days.
More: Pictures
UPDATE: 86 104 341 550 reportedly dead as a result of the killer wave.