Quake-Generated Tidal Waves Kill 10 in Indonesia

Tidal waves whipped up by a mighty earthquake came crashing down on the coastal villages of New Guinea and its surrounding islands Saturday, sweeping hundreds of houses out to sea. At least 10 people were killed, and the death toll was expected to rise.

One town alone lost 600 houses.

Some waves towered an estimated 21 feet high, authorities said. The quake registered at least a magnitude 7 and by some accounts as high as 8.

The quake hit at 2:59 p.m. Saturday. It was centered under the ocean floor 68 miles east of Biak island, off New Guinea’s northern coast, the Indonesian government said.

The area, at the eastern end of the vast Indonesian archipelago, is about 2,000 miles northeast of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

No injuries or deaths were immediately reported on the main island of New Guinea. But waves up to 13 feet high swept the northwest coast “like a giant broom,” said Bambang, a spokesman for the government meteorology agency. Like many Indonesians, he uses only one name.

“There were many houses built on stilts on the coastal area, and we think there are casualties,” he said.

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In the town of Biak on Biak island, 10 people were killed when they were swept out to sea, a police officer there said by telephone.

Collapsing buildings injured 18 people in Biak, Bambang said by telephone from Jayapura, capital of the Indonesian half of New Guinea. He said 94 aftershocks of at least magnitude 4 were recorded. One measured as high as 6.7, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

In another Biak island town, Sopiori Selatan, 600 houses were swept out to sea. There was no immediate word on casualties, said Putu Puja, a meteorology official.

The Indonesian portion of New Guinea, called West Irian, is a little-developed region of fewer than 2 million people. Communication with remote towns is poor.