Mentawai tsunami kills 23, leaves scores missing

From The Jakarta post

Disaster officials say the death toll from a tsunami off Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra has climbed to 23 and scores of villagers are missing.

The hree-meter-high wave was triggered by a 7.2-magnitude quake, which struck 20 kilometers beneath the ocean floor late Monday.

It washed away hundreds of houses in two coastal villages on Pagai and Silabu, part of the remote and sparsely populated Mentawai Islands chain.

Ade Edward, a West Sumatra disaster management agency official, said Tuesday that casualty figures were just starting to trickle in. So far, 23 bodies have been found and at least 167 people were missing.

Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

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