7.7 quake triggers tsunami on Java island; 69 killed

INDONESIA: A two-meter-high (six-foot-high) tsunami crashed into beach resorts and fishing villages on Indonesia's Java island Monday, killing at least 69 people, leaving scores more missing and sending thousands fleeing to higher ground, witnesses and officials said.

Regional agencies issued bulletins saying a magnitude 7.7 undersea quake that had just struck was strong enough to send a killer wave hurtling toward Indonesia, the country worst hit by the 2004 tsunami.

The hardest-hit area Monday appeared to be Pangandaran, an idyllic beach resort long popular with local and foreign tourists.

Red Cross official Arifin Muhadi told The Associated Press that 69 people were killed, most in Pangandaran, and that 77 others were missing.

"We are still evacuating areas and cross-checking data," he said.

JAKARTA, AP