Death toll rises in Indonesia quake
AP
==========================================A powerful earthquake off western Indonesia triggered a small tsunami that pounded villages on remote islands, killing at least four people and leaving more than 100 others missing, witnesses and officials said on Tuesday.
The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude quake, which struck 20km beneath the ocean floor late on Monday, was expected to climb with reports about damage and injuries just starting to trickle in.
Mujiharto, who heads the Health Ministry's crisis centre, said a three-metre-high wave washed away hundreds of houses in two coastal villages on Pagai and Silabu, part of the Mentawai island chain.
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"We have 200 body bags on the way, just in case," he said.
A group of Australians said they were hanging out on the back deck of their chartered surfing vessel, anchored in a nearby bay, when the temblor hit, generating a wave that caused them to smash into a neighbouring boat.
Before they knew it a fire was ripping through their cabin.
"We threw whatever we could that floated - surfboards, fenders - then we jumped into the water," Rick Hallet told Australia's Nine Network. "Fortunately, most of us had something to hold on to ... and we just washed in the wetlands, and scrambled up the highest trees that we could possibly find and sat up there for an hour and a half."
He said all 15 members on board his ship were accounted for.
The death toll from the quake and tsunami rose on Tuesday to four.
Ade Edward, a disaster management agency official, said two bodies were found in Bosua, a village on Sipora island, where water reached the height of roof tops. Two others were found in Muntei Baru, a hard hit village on Silabu, where 80 per cent of the houses were damaged.
The search was on for 103 people still missing, he said, but "we're not sure yet if they were washed away are just fled to safety in the hills." (smh.com.au)
© 2010 AP
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