Indonesia's government warned residents living along the Sunda Straight coast on Monday to avoid the beachfront for at least two days because of their fear of volcanic activities that might generate another tsunami. On Saturday, a powerful tsunami splashed Indonesia that killed at least 429 people, injured more than 1,480 on the nearby islands of Java and Sumatra, and displacing around 16,000 people.
Experts are unable to pin the cause of the killer tsunami that hit the country on Saturday. Evidence, however, points that the wave is a result of volcanic activity on the island of Anak Krakatau. According to reports, the volcano caused a landslide on the island's southwest slope.
The island of Anak Krakatau developed from the crater of Krakatau over the last century. The name if the island literally means "the child of Krakatau". The volcano has been erupting on a daily basis since June of this year.
Scientists claim that there are satellite images that show that a large chunk of the island on the southwest flank disappeared after the tsunami hits Indonesia. The experts said that it proves that a large amount of soil from the island caused the killer wave.
Eko Yulianto, a tsunami expert at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that they need to determine whether a landslide actually occurred on the island. The last tsunami is the second tsunami to hit the country within three months. The tsunami struck the country without warning. On September 28, a tsunami hit the Sulawesi Island killing not less than 2,100 people.
On Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the affected areas along the Sunda Strait. The Indonesian government is quick in responding to the damages of the tsunami. Some of the debris is already cleared before the president's visit.
During his tour in Java's Banten Province, the hardest-hit area, he interviewed some of the survivors at a local clinic. A camp was set up to aid those who have lost their homes. The president told the reports that he wanted to see firsthand the handing of the post-tsunami that swept the coast around Sunda Strait last night.
According to Indonesian officials, the tsunami alerts were not sounded in advance because the country's warning system only detects tsunamis that are caused by earthquakes. Mr.Eko noted that the tsunami detection buoys might have alerted the authorities if they weren't abandoned in 2012.
