Steady loud booms rupture the
looping noise of the waves lapping the coast of Pandeglang province on
Indonesia's Java island. The thumping sound could easily be mistaken for the
wind - but it's not.
Hidden in the gloom some 47km out in
the sea, Anak Krakatoa
volcano is still erupting, like it has been doing for several months
now.
But late on Saturday, the eruptions
triggered an underwater landslide that is widely believed to have caused a
devastating tsunami that struck almost without a warning the shorelines of
Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands.
"It was not like a usual
wave," Edi Sujarwo, a chef at a hotel lining the Pandeglang seafront, told
Al Jazeera. "It was a huge wave, with foam on top and it was just rolling
and rolling after me."
The powerful tsunami washed away
popular seaside areas frequented by local and foreign tourists ahead of
Christmas, sweeping over coastal settlements and leaving behind a trail of
destruction.The latest death toll stands at 429 people, with 1,459 others
injured and another 128 missing.
Thousands more have been displaced
and forced to seek shelter in temporary camps after the menacing waves
flattened their homes.
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