HIGH waves have struck coastlines across Indonesia, forcing hundreds to be evacuated from their homes after water destroyed houses and fishing boats.On the resort island of Bali, tourists were warned to stay away from the main Kuta beach after waves started pounding the coastline late yesterday, the Detikcom news website said.
High water also hit the nearby picturesque Jimbaran beach, damaging stalls and fishing boats, ElShinta radio reported. Houses in fishing villages along Java island's coastline have been damaged and some residents, fearful of another tsunami, have headed inland, local officials told Detikcom.
"I fled my house because I am afraid of a tsunami like the one in Aceh,'' Munajad, a resident in Sukabumi in western Java, said. "There are 38 huts swept away by the waves that came in the morning. There's no missing people but some have been injured,'' he told ElShinta.
About 200 Sukabumi residents were seeking shelter in a local government building, an official said.
The waves have been generated by strong winds blowing across the Indian Ocean, the national meteorology office said.
A tsunami alert has not been issued for Indonesia, the nation worst hit by devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
In Caringin village, also in western Java, waves badly damaged a holiday resort and fishing huts, Detikcom reported. "Hundreds of houses were damaged after a high tide came. We are still investigating the exact amount of damage,'' an official said.
Several hundred people have been evacuated as a precaution from Trenggalek district in eastern Java after waves sunk fishing boats, local police said. Residents living up to three hundred metres from the coast had to be moved, an officer told Detikcom.
People living in Indonesia's second-city of Surabaya reported minor flooding in their homes after waves hit the area, Metro TV reported. Waves also struck hundreds of kilometres further north on Sumatra island, with a high tide hitting Bengkulu, also damaging dozens of fishing boats.