JAKARTA, Indonesia _ A tsunami that crashed into coastal villages on two of Indonesia's most populous islands, washing away buildings, roads and a rock concert on the beach, killed at least 222 people, officials said Sunday.
The tsunami that struck Saturday night on the western tip of Java and the southern tip of Sumatra was believed to have been caused by a volcanic eruption, and was the latest in a string of disasters to strike Indonesia in recent months.
Officials in Jakarta said 843 other people were injured and 28 were still missing.
About 600 buildings were damaged. Soldiers and rescue workers moved quickly to clear roads blocked by debris while television and social media video showed survivors pulling at wreckage trying to find loved ones.
"People are still afraid to go back to their homes since there were still rumors that a tsunami might strike again," said Aulia Arriani, a spokeswoman for the Indonesian Red Cross.
Cellphone video aired on local TV and on social media websites showed a seaside concert being washed away and concertgoers as a wave struck without warning at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Seventeen, a popular Indonesian rock band, was performing under a white tent at a dinner held by a government-run electricity company on the shore of Tanjung Lesung beach on Java, about 100 miles southwest of the capital Jakarta.
The video showed water suddenly engulfing the stage as screams were heard from the audience.
The band later posted a message online saying that bassist M. Awal Purbani and manager Oki Wijaya had died. The band's frontman said other members of the group were missing, including his wife.
Oystein L. Andersen, a Norwegian who was vacationing on Java, said on Twitter that he ran from the approaching surge and rescued his sleeping wife and child from a nearby hotel.
He paid tribute to residents of the local community of Anyer, who he said were "opening their doors to the people who have evacuated."
On Sunday, Andersen posted an update, saying he was in a car headed to Jakarta and praised the Indonesian government for "doing a great job dealing with the situation on the ground."
The tsunami in the Sunda Strait was attributed to the 1,000-foot-high Anak Krakatau volcano, which has been erupting since midyear. Officials said the rumbling volcano caused an underwater landslide in the strait that powered the wave, which was also swollen by a high tide.
Anak Krakatau � whose name translates to "child of Krakatoa" � is a relatively young mountain formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa, which was heard as far away as Australia, darkened skies over Europe and North America for months, and churned up a 100-feet high tsunami that killed at least 36,000 people.
The disaster is the latest in a string of calamities this year in Indonesia, a 3,000-mile wide archipelago known for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a seismically volatile zone comprising around 120 active volcanoes.
In September, more than 2,000 people were killed in an earthquake and tsunami that hit Sulawesi, an island 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta.
In July and August, Bali and Lombok, islands popular with tourists, were struck by earthquakes that together killed hundreds.
In December 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed at least 225,000 people in 11 countries ringing Indian Ocean, with most of the casualties in Indonesia. The earthquake occurred off the northern coast of Sumatra.
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(Roughneen is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Bengali reported from Singapore.)
