Indonesia: Tsunami kills over 100 as earthquake triggers waves

(October 26, 2010)
Rescuers battled rough seas Tuesday to reach remote Indonesian islands pounded by a 10-foot (three-meter) tsunami that swept away homes, killing at least 113 people. Scores more were missing and information was only beginning to trickle in from the sparsely populated surfing destination, so casualties were expected to rise.

With few able to get to the islands to help with searches, fisherman were left to find the dead and look for the living. Corpses were strewn about since there were not enough people to dig graves, according to the Mentawai district chief, Edison Salelo Baja. More than 4,000 people expected to spend the night without shelter because tents and other supplies had also not arrived.



Central Java officials warned Tuesday that a lava dome containing pressurized gas could collapse, sparking an explosion far worse than the one in 2006 that killed two people.

Many residents heeded the warning, but thousands more remained near the volcano to watch over their homes and livestock.The slopes of volcanoes provide some of the most fertile soil in Indonesia, creating high population densities in vulnerable areas like the one around Merapi.

Officials with loudspeakers were encouraging thousands to escape the area as hot gas and ash continued to spew from the volcano’s mouth, according to AFP.