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  • INDONESIA: Huge waves continue to hit Indonesia's coastlines

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INDONESIA: Huge waves continue to hit Indonesia's coastlines

Massive waves damage hundreds of homes and killed a person Indonesia's coastlines for a third day on Saturday (May 19). Forcing fishermen to stayaway from sea and tourists from venturing on to beaches. The huge waves that began hitting coasts across the sprawling archipelago on Thursday and dozens of fishing boats were destroyed by the rushing waters that rose as high as 7 metres in some areas. The waves receded to 1.5-2 metres in some parts on Saturday (May 19), but weather officials still warned fishermen against sailing in the Java Sea and forbade people from surfing on the popular Kuta beach in the tourist island of Bali. An official at the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency told that the waves had decreased relatively and the forecast for Sunday (May 20) is below 1.5 meters. However, the waves could rise up to 3 metres in the Indian Ocean near the western part of Java, the country's most densely populated island, he said. Weather officials say the waves are a result of the accumulation of winds in one spot and are not linked with annual weather patterns. The crashing waves that have struck all the way from Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra and Western of Sumatra, to the resort island of Bali have triggered panic among residents in some parts. Wagiman one of villager who life in the coastline of West Sumatra said, "First wave came at 04.00 and second wave was come at 04.30 local time and wave high reach 5 meters." Among the worst hit was Sukabumi regency in West Java where more than 600 people have fled from their homes. Memories of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 170,000 people in Aceh alone are still fresh in the minds of many Indonesians. Indonesia is hit by frequent undersea quakes, triggering tsunami fears in the archipelago of about 17,000 islands. It lies in the so-called "Ring of Fire" where seismic activity is frequent because of the shifting of tectonic plates.

ITN Source | May 20, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

Tags:. .saturday. .tip. .linked. .huge. .crashing











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