Off the island
of Java, Indonesia, an earthquake rumbled under the ocean on July 17,
2006, triggering a tsunami that struck the island about an hour later.
According to news reports, the area most devastated by the roughly
3-meter wave was the area around Pangandaran, located about 40
kilometers (about 25 miles) west of the city of Cilacap.
GeoEye’s IKONOS satellite shows the effect of the tsunami along part of
Pangandaran Beach on July 19, 2006. The most dramatic evidence of the
inland rush of water appears in the fields that surround an island of
trees near image center. Between the beach and the trees, the fields
appear to have been either scoured or buried by sand and debris.
Isolated bright specks within the washed-over area could be pieces of
houses or other debris deposited by the rushing waters.
Larger structures withstood the tsunami, but many smaller buildings and
homes in the fishing community and resort area were washed away. Tens of
thousands of people were displaced by the devastation and several
hundred more died.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred in a
shallow part of the boundary between the Australia Plate and the Sunda
Plate. The two tectonic plates meet off Java’s shore. As shown in the
inset image, the epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 250
kilometers off the Java coast.
