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.