Ciamis regency in West Java province was the worst hit by the tsunami, with at least 172 people confirmed dead and more than 100 others missing on the Pangandaran resort beach alone.

    The three foreign victims were from Netherlands, Sweden and Pakistan.

    Ciamis police chief Syamsudin Janieb said the rescue team focuses on seven coastal areas, including Pangandaran.

    At least 1,500 personnel from the military and the police were deployed to the area, about 250 km south of Jakarta. Security was tight in tsunami-hit areas to prevent looting, as most residents already fled the scene, said Syamsudin.

    At least 5,400 people took refuge at public buildings, such as schools, mosques and village halls.

    Shops were closed and classes were suspended in Ciamis Tuesday.

    "That Monday afternoon, we saw tidal waves as high as a palm tree coming to the beach and we run as fast as possible for our lives," Min Laeni, a civil servant with the West Java provincial government, told the Antara news agency.

    "My two colleagues escaped but the waves hit me. When I regained consciousness, I was hooked on an overturned car and later evacuated by local residents and brought to the Banjaran Hospital," he said.

    The tsunami also struck Cilacap regency in Central Java, with at least 67 people dead and 63 others missing, reported the Detikcom news website.

    The local meteorology and geophysics agency said the tsunami was triggered by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake centered beneath the Indian Ocean at 15:20 (08:20 GMT).

Quake, tsunami-related death toll rises to 172
 

    PANGANDARAN, Indonesia, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Monday's earthquake and tsunami off the Java Island had killed 172 people so far, including three foreigners, said the information center of the disaster relief team here on Tuesday.

    Dead bodies were found in six areas along the southern coast of the Java Island and the resort beach Pangandaran topped all of them with death toll reaching 58.

A house is destroyed by a trunami in the West Java seaside resort of Pangandaran, one of the areas hardest hit by the killer waves, July 17, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    The three foreign victims were from Netherlands, Sweden and Pakistan, the center said.

    Meanwhile, there were still hundreds of people missing and the relief workers were searching through the smashed buildings.

    On Monday, a tsunami triggered off strong waves of five meters high along the southern Java coast. The water ran as far as three kms onto the land and damaged houses and hotels near the coast.

    The tsunami came following the step of an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, whose epicenter was located at 9.41 degrees southern latitude and 107.19 degrees eastern longitude.

    Indonesia lies in a zone known as the Pacific "ring of fire", which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
   
Related stories:

    Quake, tsunami in Indonesia destroy houses, buildings

    PANGANDARAN, Indonesia, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Many houses and building, including hotels along the worst affected coast of Pangandaran, Ciamis district, Indonesia's West Java province, have been seriously destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami Monday afternoon.

    "There are about 20 dead bodies in our hospital," a medical worker told Xinhua reporters who visited a small hospital along the coast area hit by the earthquake and tsunami at 15:19 local time on Monday.

An old woman and her daughter, who survived the tsunami, hug and cry, in the West Java seaside resort of Pangandaran, one of the areas hardest hit by the killer waves, July 17, 2006.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    There was a foreign visitor among the dead bodies and he looked like a Dutch, said the medical worker who refused to tell his name.

    Some rescue people are digging two bodies hiding below big flagstones.

    An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck southern coast of Java on Monday afternoon. The quake that was followed by a tidal wave killed at least 100 people, while hundreds of others remained missing and thousands of others sought refugee to a safer place, the "Kompas" daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.

    Rescue work is going on with the participation of military and police, government officials said. Enditem

        Indonesian president calls for alertness against disaster 

    

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attends a press conference in Jakarta, July 17. The president has asked leaders of regions above the tectonic crust like Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Papua, to step up alertness to anticipate quake and subsequent tsunami which may happen expectedly. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    JAKARTA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked leaders of regions above the tectonic crust like Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Papua, to step up alertness to anticipate quake and subsequent tsunami which may happen expectedly.

    "I hope that following the quake and tsunami hitting Pangandaran beach in Ciamis and other districts in Java island, the leaders of quake-prone regions, including district heads, governors and mayors, whose regions are located within the 'ring of fire' would immediately take steps designed to enhance their alertness," Antara news agency on Tuesday quoted the head of state as saying.

    "If such disaster happens, at least we are prepared and the number of victims would be minimized," the president said here on Monday.

    The president made the call after an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the southern coast of Java on Monday afternoon. The quake was followed by a tidal wave, killing at least 100 people and leaving hundreds of others missing.

    The president also reminded that when a quake and tsunami hit Aceh in 2004, some regions in Indonesia had been declared prone to quake or tsunami.

    More than 160,000 people died in the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.

    "The ring of fire is lying across the western part of Sumatra, South Java, Sulawesi toward the Philippines and Papua," he said.

    It is true we never know when and where such a disaster will strike including the magnitude of the quakes. Therefore readiness, alertness and steps from regional leaders should be made in anticipation of possible quakes," Yudhoyono said. Enditem