Intense “Volcano Tsunami” Blasts Indonesia, Taking the Lives of at Least 429 (Videos)
This article was written with nothing but respect and love to the people of Indonesia, free of the disrespect media outlets exude, honing in on a natural disaster like it’s some kind of festivity, where people are excited by the drama that occurred. Nothing but love and respect to the people of Indonesia.
You can already see some articles writing sensationalist headlines about this tragic event, that harmed people in ways impossible for many to empathize with, without having personally experienced it. For example, this Daily Mail article is titled “Apocalyptic footage shows ‘Child of Krakatoa erupting Into Ocean.” Really, “apocalyptic?”
In the Banten province of Java Island, tragedy struck over the weekend of Christmas as a tsunami that was tied to volcanic activity took the lives of at least 429 people, according to the known numbers on December 25 (December 26 in Indonesia). During a performance by Indonesia pop band Seventeen, a tsunami wave wiped out the stage and struck the audience on video, at a venue on Tanjung Lesung beach in Pandegalang.
Seventeen band yg menjadi korban Di Tanjung Lesung,Banten#Banten #Anyer #Selatsunda #prayforanyer pic.twitter.com/zpETu89zsy
— ig @IGERS.BANTEN (@IgersBanten) December 23, 2018
Over 50 people, if not more are still missing, according to a United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report from December 24, not that they should be the arbiters of this information.
Good people in search teams are digging through the rubble, trying to save people. Some places that suffered the consequences of the natural disaster have been closed off by circumstance, making it nearly impossible to go in and try to rescue people because of all the rubble and damage.
Dampak gelombang tinggi, air laut masuk ke Grand Elty Krakatoa, Kalianda Lampung Selatan, Sabtu (22/12) malam. Warga pesisir pun mengungsi ke tempat yang lebih tinggi mengindari terjadinya bencana. #iNews #Lampung #Tsunami pic.twitter.com/HbTIs7ylFS
— iNews (@OfficialiNewsTV) December 23, 2018
At least 16,000 people were left without homes, and over 1,500 people were injured, according to the numbers provided by Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management.
The media is placing emphasis on the fact that officials were completely taken off-guard by this sudden disaster, and that they need a better way to predict this type of thing. One article notes “Now, false alarms are the latest problem to rock the region as locals fear getting caught in the next disaster.”
Daylight reveals some of the devastation after the tsunami in western Indonesia https://t.co/4P9zDCRkKC pic.twitter.com/8N5YPwmLlU
— BNO News (@BNONews) December 23, 2018
On Tuesday, it was reported in a slightly disrespectful manner that locals had a scare with a false alarm, and they started reciting verses from the Quran, shouting “Water is coming! Water is coming.”
A similar false alarm was reported in Tanjung Lesung, another area damaged by the tsunami a few hours away.
Prayers for Christians, Muslims, and everyone were given all over Indonesia. A man who had to deal with this tragedy, Pastor Markus Taekz of his Rahmat Pentecostal Church in the badly damaged region of Carita said that only about 100 people showed up for service, about half the usual number.
“This is an unusual situation because we have a very bad disaster that killed hundreds of our sisters and brothers in Banten,” Taekz said. “So our celebration is full of grief.”
Data sementara dampak tsunami di Pantai di Kab Pandeglang, Serang dan Lampung Selatan hingga 23/12/2018 pukul 04.30 WIB: tercatat 20 orang meninggal dunia, 165 orang luka-luka, 2 orang hilang dan puluhan bangunan rusak. Data korban kemungkinan masih akan terus bertambah. pic.twitter.com/6f7buuoD5Y
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) December 22, 2018
Now here’s the reason why this is a tsunami/volcano situation: a volcano in the Sunda Strait, known as Anak Krakatau (or literally child of Krakatoa) erupted, and it is believed to have created a landslide on the slope of the volcano, “displacing” a large volume of water that crashed straight into the islands of Java and Sumatra.
(Image credit: en.wikivoyage)
A volcanologist named Jess Phoenix noted that since Anak Krakatau is surrounded by water, “there is even greater interaction of water and hot volcanic materials, which produces more steam and a messy-looking eruption.”
(Image credit: bdnews24)
This is actually the second deadly tsunami to strike the diverse nation of Indonesia this year.
In September, you may recall an earthquake triggered a tsunami that struck Sulawesi island. Over 2,000 people sadly lost their lives, and in August, at least 505 people lost their lives to an earthquake on the island of Lombok.
(Image credit: news.mongabay)