Volcano triggers tsunami in Indonesia

Indonesian rescue workers searched for victims among debris in Pandeglang after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait. Pandeglang was one of the areas most affected and many of the injured needed orthopedic and neurosurgery procedures.

Authorities said the tsunami was triggered by the Anak Krakatau volcano. It had been spewing ash and lava for months before a 64 hectare section of it collapsed.

Rudi Suhendar, the head of Indonesia's Geological Agency at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, told DW that the tsunami caught everyone off guard because of the absence of an earthquake. "We only have the early warning system when there is an earthquake before the tsunami," he said.

The death toll continued to rise in the days after the tsunami with hundreds dead and more than a thousand injured on the islands of Java and Sumatra, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.

The tsunami displaced thousands of people from their homes. Word of another tsunami caused many people to flee and seek refuge. Some climbed to the top of mosques, such as this one in Sumur village, to take shelter.