NATION — A tsunami, triggered by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, hit the coastline of west Java and Sumatra, Indonesia Saturday evening, Dec. 22. with no warning, killing at least 222 people and leaving 843 people injured and 28 unaccounted for.
According to CNN.com, Indonesia still lacks the proper equipment to alert the country of a potential tsunami threat.
“We need multi-hazard early warning system,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of public relations at Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency. “And we need lots of it.”
Nugroho pointed out that tsunamis are much faster and less predictable than tidal waves, which are caused by atmospheric conditions.
“We used to know that a tsunami happens after an earthquake. There was no quake last night. That is why there was no warning,” he said, referring to the underwater landslides.
The damage is to have destroyed 558 houses, nine hotels, 60 restaurants and 350 boats. No foreigners have been reported being killed at this time.