Indonesian tsunami kills 108, hundreds missing

JAKARTA, (Reuters) – A tsunami that pounded remote  islands in western Indonesia following an earthquake off the  coast of Sumatra killed more than 100 people, officials said today, and hundreds more were missing.
The 7.5 magnitude quake hit 78 km west of South Pagai, one  of the Mentawai islands, late on Monday. Local legislator  Hendri Dori Satoko told Metro TV the latest toll was 108 dead  and 502 missing.
Most buildings in the coastal village of Betu Monga were  destroyed, said Hardimansyah, an official with the regional  branch of the Department of Fisheries.
“Of the 200 people living in that village, only 40 have  been found. 160 are still missing, mostly women and children,”  he told Reuters by phone. “We have people reporting to the  security post here that they could not hold on to their  children, that they were swept away. A lot of people are  crying.”
Hardimansyah, who has only one name, said 80 percent of the  houses in the area were damaged and food supplies were low.
A tourist boat carrying between eight and 10 Australians  has been out of radio contact since the quake, Australia’s  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
The Macaronis surfing resort on North Pagai island was also  hit. In an official press release, World Surfaris said  Macaronis had “experienced a level of devastation that has  rendered the resort inoperable”.
Reports via Facebook from a surfer at the resort suggested  that all villas had been “wiped out” by the tsunami.
A report posted on the Surfaid website by one of the aid  organisation’s staff members described a three-metre-high  tsunami crashing through the resort and boats knocking  together, then bursting into flames.
Guests and crew from one boat were washed into the jungle  and took more than an hour to find their way back to the beach,  the staff member, Tom Plummer, said.
“There was a lot of debris floating in the water, including  bar stools and other pieces of furniture from Macaronis  Resort,” he said.
In South Pagai island, waves penetrated about 600 metres  into coastal villages, while in North Pagai island, waves  reached to the roof of local houses, he said.
In December 2004, a tsunami caused by an earthquake of more  than 9 magnitude off Sumatra killed more than 226,000 people.  It was the deadliest tsunami on record.