37 dead as quake triggers tsunami
Monday, July 17, 2006; Posted: 11:00 a.m. EDT (15:00 GMT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- A major earthquake off the coast of Java and a tsunami that followed has killed at least 37 people, but the death toll is expected to rise as the search for victims moves ahead, according to an Indonesian official.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Monday there did not appear to be a widespread tsunami threat in the region.
The center's Web site reported that "sea level gauge data indicate that a tsunami was generated" but it added that "based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, plus current sea level readings, a more widespread tsunami threat probably does not exist."
Local parliament member Rudi Supriatna Bahro in Ciamis, West Java, appeared on Metro TV Monday saying searchers have recovered 37 bodies but their efforts have been slowed by debris-strewn roads and damaged buildings. (Watch why there's still no tsunami warning system -- 3:18)
He said the larger hotels around Pangandaran Beach remain standing but many of the smaller buildings along the coast were destroyed.
Indonesian radio interviewed a witness named Teti who said the giant waves -- as high as trees -- damaged homes and other buildings, and she reported seeing at least three dead bodies.
An entire hotel was also washed away, Teti said, and everyone ran for higher ground.
The International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) issued a tsunami watch after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 rumbled in the Indian Ocean 220 miles south of Jakarta.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center Web site, the quake hit at 3:19 p.m. (0819 GMT).
Three strong aftershocks followed over the next three hours, according to the USGS and Indonesian radio.
The ITIC said the tsunami watch is in effect for parts of Indonesia and Australia.
In May, an earthquake in the Indonesian region of Yogyakarta killed more than 6,000 people and displaced more than 200,000, according to United Nations figures.
A massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December of 2004 killed more than 200,000 people in 12 countries.
There's just no end of the misery these poor people is going through
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