Officials have warned another tsunami could hit the stricken area as volcanic activity continues. Many residents who survived the 2004 tsunami are having to deal with flashbacks.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
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After the tsunami, heavy rains
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Indonesia's volcanology agency said Thursday that the alert status for the Anak Krakatau volcano, which prompted a deadly tsunami last week, had been raised to the second highest level. They also ordered the exclusion zone to be more than doubled to a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius.
Authorities have warned that the volcano's crater remains fragile, which means that another earthquake and tsunami are possible. Flights have been diverted to avoid the area.
Emergency crews on Wednesday had continued to rescue stranded residents from Indonesia's remote islands and pushed into isolated communities following a deadly tsunami in the Sunda Strait, triggered by volcanic activity on Anak Krakatau last week.
As stormy weather hindered emergency crews, authorities warned not only that another tsunami could be triggered, but residents further afield were also advised to stay indoors to avoid "ash and sand" being blown by the wind.
They were told to wear masks and goggles for protection, and to stay up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) from the coast.
Ash rising from Anak Krakatau on December 23Image: Reuters/S. Air
Hundreds of people were killed in Indonesia after a deadly tsunami in the Sunda Strait hit the islands of Java and Sumatra. Rescue workers searched for survivors in the debris.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Ibrahim
Searching for survivors
Indonesian rescue workers searched for victims among debris in Pandeglang after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait. Pandeglang was one of the areas most affected and many of the injured needed orthopedic and neurosurgery procedures.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/A. Fathulrahman
Erupting volcano
Authorities said the tsunami was triggered by the Anak Krakatau volcano. It had been spewing ash and lava for months before a 64 hectare section of it collapsed.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/Bisnis Indonesia
Caught off guard
Rudi Suhendar, the head of Indonesia's Geological Agency at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, told DW that the tsunami caught everyone off guard because of the absence of an earthquake. "We only have the early warning system when there is an earthquake before the tsunami," he said.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua News Agency/D. Yu
Many dead and injured
The death toll continued to rise in the days after the tsunami with hundreds dead and more than a thousand injured on the islands of Java and Sumatra, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/Ardiansyah
Fear of another tsunami
The tsunami displaced thousands of people from their homes. Word of another tsunami caused many people to flee and seek refuge. Some climbed to the top of mosques, such as this one in Sumur village, to take shelter.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Ibrahim
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Rising fatalities
Some residents did return to what was left of their homes as heavy rain fell and waves pounded the shore.
The disaster agency raised the death toll to 430, with 1,495 people injured and another 159 missing. Nearly 22,000 people have been evacuated to higher ground.
"There's a chance the number of fatalities will rise," said an agency spokesman.
Field hospital in BantenImage: DW/J. Küng
Failed tsunami detection
Saturday's event triggered flashbacks for some who survived a disaster that struck in 2004 off the northwestern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.
An enormous magnitude 9.1 earthquake hit the area the morning after Christmas, creating gigantic waves that surged far inland killing some 230,000 people.
"When it happens, I always remember what we have been through," said Qurnaty who lost her home and several family members to the 2004 waves.
The country's system of tsunami detection buoys — deployed after the 2004 disaster — has not worked since 2012, with some units being stolen or vandalized.
Indonesia tsunami and earthquake devastate Sulawesi island
Authorities have ended a search for more than 5,000 people still missing, leaving their whereabouts a mystery. Indonesia is grappling with widespread destruction after an earthquake and tsunami struck Sulawesi Island.
Image: Reuters/H. Mubarak
A bridge washed away
On Friday, September 28, a massive tidal wave unleashed by a 7.5-magnitude quake slammed into the Indonesian city of Palu located on Sulawesi island. The impact washed away Palu's 300-meter (328 yard) double-arched bridge, plunging cars into the water.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
A deadly geophysical coincidence
This satellite image from October 1 shows how Palu is built on lowlands at the end of a narrow bay. Scientists say the shape of the bay amplified the size and power of the waves by forcing the water into a narrow and shallow channel. The earthquake's epicenter was also located close to shore, making the waves more powerful and leaving little time for warning.
Image: Reuters/Planet Labs Inc
A flooded mosque
The wave hit Palu, a city with a population of 380,000, on Friday evening as Muslim worshippers were gathering for evening prayers in local mosques. Authorities said that many others were caught on the beach while preparing a festival which was set to start later in the day.
Image: BNPB
Hospitals overwhelmed
With local hospitals crowded by hundreds of wounded, doctors were forced to treat the injured outside. Komang Adi Sujendra, director of a Palu hospital, urged assistance. "We need all the help we can get," he said. "We need field hospitals, medical workers, medicines and blankets."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Rifki
Burying the dead
On October 2, the official death toll of the tsunami and quake reached over 1,200. Authorities expect that number to rise as more people remain trapped. On October 1, the national disaster agency told AP that over 150 bodies were buried in a mass grave, with the burial operations ongoing. Indonesia is a majority-Muslim nation, and religious custom calls for burial soon after death.
Image: DW/Nurdin Amir
Trapped below the rubble
The tsunami carried sand, mud and debris inland. Roads were blocked and communications disrupted with other cities. Rescue efforts in remote areas around Palu was hampered by the extent of damage to infrastructure. More heavy equipment was also needed.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto
'Liquified' earth
The heavy earthquake caused sand and silt saturated by water to take on liquid characteristics in a process known as liquefaction. The national rescue agency said that over 1,700 houses in the Palu area were wiped out by liquefied soil.
Image: Reuters/I. Puta
President Widodo pledges to rebuild
Authorities managed to open the local airport a day after the tsunami, allowing the Indonesian mlitary to start delivering aid. The country's President Joko Widodo (r) visited the island and pledged to rebuild the city. The Associated Press reported that Widodo has authorized international help. The EU and 10 countries including the US, Australia and China have offered assistance.
Image: Biro Pers Setpers
Looters risk life and limb
Indonesian media showed images of survivors entering the heavily damaged malls and supermarkets to loot supplies, despite the risk of building collapse. Some Palu residents started returning to their homes to salvage usable items. German news agency dpa reported on October 2 that police arrested 45 people in Palu for looting.
Image: Reuters/DRONE PILOT TEZAR KODONGAN
Queuing for fuel
The earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to the island and left many residents without access to clean water and medical supplies. Some of them descended on gas stations to pump out fuel by hand for their generators.
Image: DW/N. Amir
Foreign aid
President Widodo has opened the door to foreign aid organizations as 200,000 people remain in desperate need of food, water and medicine. International Search and Rescue (ISAR) Germany has sent personnel to assist authorities.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Heine
Search called off
On October 11, authorities called off the search for missing people, leaving the whereabouts of around 5,000 people a mystery. Experts believe that many of the missing are buried underground after entire villages were swallowed by "liquid earth." To commemorate the missing, parks and monuments are planned for Balaroa, Petobo and Jono Oge, considered the worst-hit areas of the island.