Quake Sends Tidal Waves Crashing Into Pacific Isles Many Homes Swept Out To Sea In Coastal Regions Of New Guinea

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 homes out to sea like “a giant broom.” At least 10 people were killed and the death toll was expected to rise.

One town alone lost 600 homes.

Some waves towered an estimated 21 feet high, authorities said. The quake registered at least a magnitude 7, 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.

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. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

“More casualties are expected because there were scores of houses swept away by tidal waves on Biak island,” Bambang said.

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.

Many residents of Biak, a town of 84,000, spent the night outdoors for fear of further earthquakes, said Joko, a telecommunication official in Jayapura.

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.

On the New Guinea coast, tidal waves were reported in Sarmi, 185 miles southeast of Biak, but there was no word on casualties, authorities said.

The government was sending rescue teams, marines and other military personnel to the area, said a soldier contacted by telephone at the military command in Jayapura. The quake couldn’t be felt in Jayapura, he said.

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

The government reported a preliminary magnitude of 7. Japan’s Central Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Center in Honolulu put the magnitude at 8, as did the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tidal wave warnings were issued, then canceled, for the Philippines, Guam and other islands as far north as Japan.

A quake of magnitude of 7 is classified as a major earthquake, capable of causing widespread, heavy damage. A quake with a magnitude of 8 can cause tremendous damage.

Powerful quakes are frequent in Indonesia, part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” The chain of volcanoes and earthquake zones circles the Pacific Ocean from Mexico and California, up through the Aleutian Islands and down to Japan, the Philippines and New Zealand.

In 1992, tidal waves from an earthquake killed at least 800 people on the Indonesian island of Flores, about 1,000 miles southwest of New Guinea. Some 2,500 people died.

Japanese authorities warned thousands to flee low-lying coastal areas, but later canceled the warning.