Indonesian villagers return home after tsunami

Jakarta (VNA) – Thousands of villagers who fled their homes when a tsunami struck Anyer beach, Indonesia’s Banten province on December 22 have returned home to repair houses and stabilise life.

The National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) on December 25 announced the tsunami in Sunda Strait as a local catastrophe, and affirmed that local authorities are able to deal with the disaster’s impacts.

The agency has set a 14-day emergency response period for Banten province, from December 22, 2018 to January 4, 2019 while Lampung province will have seven days, from December 23-29. The two localities were the worst-hit areas.

With support from the government, local authorities are mobilising all forces to recover from the natural disaster, including police, search and rescue forces, BNBP and Red Cross organisation.

By December 25 noon, the death toll following the tsunami caused by the Anak Krakatau volcano in the country rose to 429 people. About 1,485 people were injured and 154 are still missing while more than 16,000 people have been displaced.

The waves destroyed 882 houses, 73 villas and hotels, 60 restaurants and hundreds of boats, motor bikes and cars.

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

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

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.-VNA