Quake Triggers Tsunami on Java Island

By CHRIS BRUMMITT

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A powerful earthquake sent a 6-foot-high tsunami crashing into a beach resort on Indonesia’s Java island Monday, killing at five people and causing extensive damage to hotels, restaurants and homes, the president and witnesses said.

People ran up a hill to escape the wave on Pangandaran beach in west Java, a woman who identified herself only as Teti told el-Shinta radio station.

"All the houses are destroyed along the beach," she said. "Small hotels are completely destroyed and at least one restaurant was washed away."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters that at least five people were killed.

The tsunami followed a quake that struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean 150 miles southwest of Java’s western coast at 3:24 p.m. local time, causing tall buildings to sway as far off as the capital Jakarta.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.2, the U.S. Geological Survey said.