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.
Indonesian residents return home after fleeing their houses when a tsunami struck Anyer beach. (Photo: VNA)
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.
Source:VNA
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