Tsunami Strikes Indonesian Island of Java
A powerful 7.7 Magnitude earthquake struck offshore of the Indonesian island of Java on July 17 at 08:19 UTC, generating a local tsunami. According to reporting by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the tsunami has caused at least 650 fatalities with hundreds of people missing and injured, and over 50,000 displaced.
The tsunami struck near the town of Pangandaran on Java’s southern coast. Upon impact, the waves were reported to be six feet high, with some eyewitness accounts placing them as high as 15 feet (5 meters). Local hotels and boats are reported to have been destroyed by the waves. A series of strong aftershocks have also occurred near the earthquake epicenter.
In May of this year, an earthquake also struck near the city of Yogyakarta in Southern Java (approximately 200 miles away from the July 17 earthquake epicenter), causing over 5,700 fatalities. The December 26, 2004 Great Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami claimed nearly 129,000 lives across Indonesia.
Please refer to the links below for the latest information on this developing situation:
| Date | Latest Updates |
|---|---|
| Ongoing | Tsunami bulletins from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). |
| Ongoing | Earthquake information from the National Earthquake Information Center (U.S. Geological Survey). |
| July 18 | Post-Disaster Geologic Brief from the PDC. |
| Ongoing | Disaster briefs from AlertNet and ReliefWeb. |
| Ongoing | Coverage from the BBC and Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. |
| Ongoing | PDC’s Indian Ocean Tsunami Response Map Viewer, including high-resolution satellite imagery for areas impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster (link zooms to area of the July 17, 2006 tsunami). |
| Ongoing | Indian Ocean Earthquake Alerts from Pacific Disaster Center’s Ioquake e-mail alert notification. |
