Tsunami Indonesia: undersea earthquake with 7.7 on scale!

JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities had a tough time dealing with two deadly disasters on Tuesday after a tsunami and volcanic eruptions struck, in separate regions of the Indonesian archipelago.

In the first disaster, rescue workers and fishermen searched for survivors through waters west of Sumatra Island, after a mighty earthquake and the resulting tsunami killed at least 113 people and left hundreds missing, including eight foreigners. Thousands more were left homeless.

The tsunami was triggered by a 7.7-magnitude undersea quake, slammed into the Mentawai Islands late Monday, causing disaster in villages in the south of the island chain. The Mentawai Islands are a favourite destination for foreign surfers, particularly Australians.

Meanwhile on the island of Java, to the east, thousands of villagers were trying to escape from the multiple eruptions of Indonesia’s most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi. It began spewing clouds of hot ash in the early evening Tuesday.

One person was killed while at least 10 are reportedly injured.

Before this in 1994, the same volcano spewed out an blistering gases and rock fragments which killed 60 people.