Jakarta (AsiaNews) - More than 160 dead and nearly 800 injured is the provisional toll from a sudden tsunami that swept over three tourist resorts on the Sanda Strait between Java and Sumatra today around 4.30 am. The waves up to 3 meters high penetrated the beaches and town of Anyer Beach in Cilegon, Banten, and South Lampung. The Sanda Strait connects the island of Java and that of Sumatra. A ferry service that operates 24 hours a day allows the crossing to thousands of people.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, of the government agency of disasters, says that the death toll is destined to rise with the hours. An access road connecting Serang and Pandeglang in the province of Banten is blocked due to the tsunami debris.
The National Institute of Geophysics has explained that the unexpected tsunami was produced by an eruption and landslides created on the mountain-volcano Anak Krakatau (literally, the son of Mount Krakatua). The quake occured in the depths of the ocean. The mouth of the volcano, in fact, is located on the surface of the waters of the Sunda Strait. Already the day before, volcano activity was recorded, but no anomalous waves were produced.