Lampung residents panic over tsunami rumor

Lampung residents panic over tsunami rumor

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Hamdan, a man in his forties whose house is located near a beach
in Bandarlampung, is in a terrible panic. It is 2 a.m on Tuesday
and he has just heard from a neighbor that Anak Krakatoa volcano,
some 100 kilometers south of Bandarlampung, has erupted and that
a tsunami is coming. He looks at the water and really sees it
rising.

Hamdan, a resident of West Teluk Betung district,
Bandarlampung city, quickly wakes up his wife and three children.
Riding a motorcycle with his family he goes to his father-in-
law's house several kilometers away in North Teluk Betung
district. Along the way, Hamdan sees people screaming in fear.
Some young people are seen carrying the elderly, while parents
take their children to higher ground. People are using whatever
vehicle is available to take them further and further away from
the reach of the raging sea, as they recall the horror of the
Aceh tsunami a few months ago.

At first, the arrival of Hamzah in his father-in-law's
neighborhood does not attract any attention as it is dawn and
most people are still sleeping. However, after some learn from
Hamdan that he has left his house fearing a tsunami is imminent,
the residents panic. They live quite far from beach, but still,
the residents choose to leave for even higher ground.

They take their families to the offices of the Lampung
governor, Bandarlampung mayor and the compound of Al Furqon Grand
Mosque. Some flee to hilly areas such as Serampok, Sukadanaham
and Gedung Pakuwon.

More and more people run for their lives after people alert
others through mosque loud speakers and cell phones. It is
estimated that some tens of thousands of people in four districts
in Bandarlampung city and three other districts in South Lampung
regency had run to higher ground after hearing that Anak Krakatoa
had erupted.

Streets in downtown Bandarlampung city were jammed at dawn on
Tuesday as thousands of people jostled to reach higher ground.
The residents only dared to return home at about 6 a.m after
beach patrol officers told them through radio and mosque
loudspeakers that there was no danger.

Some residents acknowledged later on Tuesday that they still
did not know where the rumor came from.

"Probably because residents from the beach fled in droves it
spread panic in the whole town," said Pulung, a fisherman
residing in West Teluk Betung district.

According to Pulung, the waves between Monday night and at
dawn Tuesday near Pasaran islands and other small islands were
much bigger than normal days. "There was no rain or storm, but
the waves were really huge. We suspected that Anak Krakatoa had
erupted and caused the big wave," said Pulung.

A scientific explanation was not immediately available on
Tuesday, but chief of Lampung Meteorology and Geophysics Agency
(BMG) Bambang Setyanto said that there was no volcanic quake or
eruption of the much feared Anak Krakatoa volcano.

Anak Krakatoa is an active volcano located in Sunda Strait
between Java and Sumatra island. The parent volcano Krakatoa
erupted in 1883 claiming the lives of at least 36,000 people. In
1927, Anak Krakatoa emerged from the sea and kept growing.

The panic over a possible tsunami and volcanic eruption have
haunted not only Lampung residents, but also people in other
places around the country. People in the coastal areas of Riau,
West Sumatra and Nias Island also fled to higher ground after a
huge earthquake rocked the area near Nias on March 28, sparking
fear that it would trigger a tsunami as happened in Aceh last
year, which left some 160,000 people, dead or missing in Aceh
alone.