Java jolted again, tsunami toll at 550

A strong earthquake caused tall buildings to sway in the Indonesian capital today

A strong earthquake caused tall buildings to sway in the Indonesian capital today, sending panicked residents fleeing to the streets just days after a deadly tsunami struck the main island of Java in which 550 people have been reported killed so far. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the new quake.

The 6.0-magnitude quake was centered beneath the Sunda strait, the US Geological Survey said on its website, and struck 90 miles southwest of Jakarta. Suharjono, head of the earthquake division at Jakarta8217;s meteorological agency, said that based on the initial estimate of today8217;s quake strength, it was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami.

The shock sent hundreds scrambling for high ground. Rescuers pulled bodies from the debris and aid trickled into worst-hit Pangandaran town while a search continued for about 275 people still missing after the tsunami smashed into a 300 km stretch of coast along southern Java. Indonesian media questioned why there was no warning ahead of Monday8217;s killer waves despite regional efforts to set up early alert systems after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The Jakarta Post said in an editorial the disaster agency had done 8216;8216;nothing of note to increase people8217;s preparedness for disasters.8217;8217;

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the government would build an early warning system in Java and other areas in Indonesia in three years.

Five bodies were found on beaches in the Pangandaran area alone early on Wednesday, Red Cross official Mehmet Selamat said. 8216;8216;There are many fishermen missing,8217;8217; he said.

Search and rescue official Hadi Tugiman said he expected the search effort to continue until at least the weekend. Government officials said as many as 54,000 people were displaced from wrecked fishing villages, farms and beach resorts, adding to the rehabilitation headache for authorities after an earthquake that killed more than 5,700 people in central Java less than two months earlier.

Trucks started to arrive with aid for the thousands who lost their homes or who, fearing further tsunamis, had fled to hills above the coast. More than a dozen corpses in yellow body bags lay in a makeshift morgue near the devastated Pangandaran beach, a popular tourist spot known for its black-sand shore and barbecue seafood.

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At the end of a cemetery on the shoreline, soldiers operated two bulldozers to create a mass grave for 30 bodies, while a crowd gathered to watch. Officials said four foreigners, including a Dutch national, a Swede, a Japanese and a Belgian, were known killed in the quake.

More than 4,000 people were staying in refugee camps in the hills above Pangandaran, Red Cross official Waar Soewardi said. Others found refuge under homemade shelters or stayed inside mosques at Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap port, among the hardest-hit spots. At one site, eight large military tents were crowded with displaced people being given two meals a day.