A tsunami following a volcanic eruption killed at least 168 people when it slammed without warning into popular beaches around Indonesia’s Sunda Strait on Saturday night, cutting a swathe of destruction and triggering mass panic as it swept inland. Images of the aftermath of the tsunami in coastal areas showed a trail of uprooted trees and debris strewn across beaches. Indonesian authorities initially claimed the wave was not a tsunami, but instead a tidal surge and urged the public not to panic. Most recently in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island a quake and tsunami in September killed thousands of people. On December 26, 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: Egypt Independent December 23, 2018 08:43 UTC