290 people killed and 1120 injured in Indonesian Tsunami

Mount Krakatoa volcano at Sunda Strait, Indonesia erupted with ash plumes towering up to 55, 000 ft (15km) following by a deadly tsunami killing 290 people and injuring 1120. The volcano eruption has damaged disaster warning devices as the Tsunami waves struck at night without any warning. Officals say the Tsunami could have been caused by undersea landslides after Anak Krakatau volcano erupted. The Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

Tsunami waves apparently triggered by a combination of underwater landslides caused by eruption of Mount Krakatoa and an abnormal tidal surge due to a new moon, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, destroyed dozens of buildings and hit the beaches in South Sumarta and the western tip of Java at about 9:30pm local time on Saturday. The Tsunami also flooded streets and overturned several cars. Among those died were at least two members of local rock band Seventeen, who were performing under a tent on a beach as dozens of people sat listening at tables covered in white clothes.

The Anak Krakatau volcano eruption is thought that volcano activity set off undersea landslides which generated the killer waves. Anak Krakatau erupted again on Sunday spewing ash and smoke.

The spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency Mr Sutopto Purwo Nugroho, tweeted “No warning advance warning system the night of the disaster, because of lack of funds, vandalism to the buoys and technical faults, there had been no operational tsunami warning system in place since 2012.

The waves destroyed hundreds of buildings swept away cars and uprooted trees in several popular tourist destinations including the Tanjung Lesung beach resort, West Java.

Anak Krakatoa is small volcanic island that emerged from the ocean half a century after Krakatoa’s deadly 1883 eruption which is estimated to have killed more than 36, 000 people.