Hundreds of victims have been affected by a tsunami triggered by a volcanic eruption that hit Indonesia, in the Strait of the Sonda between the islands of Java and Sumatra.
President Joko Widodo has announced that the death toll is more than 280 dead and one thousand injured, but the budget could increase considerably, as there are still no data in many locations.
The risk of a new tsunami is not excluded, so that residents of the coast near the volcano Anak Krakatau have been advised to stay away from the beaches. "The risk of tsunamis in the Sunda Strait will remain high until the volcano is in its current phase, which is likely to trigger further submarine landslides", experts say, "we must be aware that the volcano is destabilized".
At the moment there is no news of foreigners among the victims, but the most affected area of Banten, in the district of Pandeglang, is full of seaside resorts crowded by tourists during the Christmas holidays. Material damage is also serious: the tsunami has damaged houses, hotels, boats and dozens of food kiosks along the coasts.
The Farnesina has activated the Crisis Unit and the embassy in Jakarta to assist the Italians. The premier Giuseppe Conte expressed his closeness, his and of the government, to the Indonesian people. Pope Francis at the Angelus invited everyone to pray for the victims and their loved ones and appealed "so that our brothers and sisters should not lack our solidarity and support from the international community".
According to experts, the tsunami was caused by submarine landslides following an eruption at Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island that emerged 90 years ago around the Krakatoa volcano, under observation since June. But the submarine sinking was probably combined with a sudden increase in the tide due to the full moon. In the 1883 the volcano has recorded one of the most violent eruptions of all time, with a budget of 30.000 dead.
Indonesia is one of the most risky countries in the world for earthquakes: the archipelago, which stretches for about 40.000 km with over 17 thousand islands, develops along the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a chain of seismic faults that it embraces the Pacific Ocean and along which hundreds of volcanoes rise.
Pacific Ring of Fire is home to some of the most powerful, imposing and lethal forces seen on our planet. The violent geological energies that have given the region its threatening name explain almost 90% of the earthquakes in the world. In the region we also find the three quarters of all the volcanoes in the world, active and inactive, that dot the Pacific coasts, snaking in the western seas from South America to Oceania.