Tsunami on Indonesia's Java coast kills 80 people

JAKARTA, July 17 (Reuters) A tsunami triggered by a strong undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Java island today killed at least 80 people, swept away buildings and damaged hundreds of fishing boats, officials and witnesses said.

News of the disaster spread panic across a region still recovering from a tsunami less than two years ago in which nearly 230,000 people were killed or reported missing, mostly in Indonesia.

But there were no reports of casualties or damage in any other country from today's tsunami.

''Our latest data shows 80 people have died while at least 68 are badly injured. The number can climb because many may have been swept away by the waves,'' Fitri Sidikah, an official at the Indonesian Red Cross disaster centre, told Reuters.

''We are going to send body bags, tents and other equipment,'' she said. ''Around 650 fishing boats are damaged.'' Waves up to 1.5 metres high crashed into Pangandaran beach near the town of Ciamis, 270 km southeast of Jakarta, killing 37 people, a local official said.

''The number could grow because when we went to the shore, rescuers were trying to evacuate more bodies,'' Rudi Supriatna Bahro told Metro TV.

Bahro said areas up to half a kilometre from the beach were affected by the tsunami, with flimsily constructed buildings flattened. ''We need tents, food and medical aid.'' Indonesia's official Antara news agency reported deaths had occurred at two other beach resorts in Java, and Metro TV put the number of dead above 30 in the central Java port of Cilacap.

''The search is still going on to find those who probably have been swept away by the tsunami waves,'' Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose mainly Muslim country is the world's fourth most populous, told reporters.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry said two Swedish children from a holidaying family were said to be missing. There were no immediate reports of other non-Indonesians dead or missing.

The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake had a magnitude of 7.2, while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.7. Indonesia's state meteorology and geophysics agency said the quake's strength was 6.8 on the Richter Scale.

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