Search and rescue teams are racing the clock as they hunt for survivors in the wake of a deadly tsunami that struck Indonesia last Saturday night, as fears of a new one grow more likely with the ongoing eruptions from Krakatoa volcano.
At least 373 people have been killed and more than 1400 injured in the wake of the volcanic eruption that first triggered a massive tsunami this past weekend.
More than two dozen are still missing. But search and rescue workers are hunting desperately through the wreckage of hundreds of buildings – homes, hotels and other community buildings – with growing concerns another tsunami might strike, sooner rather than later.
The Krakatoa volcano is still erupting, and as long as that process continues, according to the country’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, more tsunamis could be triggered.
But Indonesia has no functioning early warning system – at least, not yet.
President Joko Widodo has ordered Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geological Agency (BMKG) to purchase detectors capable of providing “early warnings to community.”
No warnings were heard this time around – or the previous time, when earthquakes and a massive tsunami left more than 2,000 dead on the western coast of Sulawesi – because the current system hasn’t worked properly since 2012.
In the meantime, the search for survivors continues.
