This Man First Noticed Tsunami Signs that Killed 373 People, but Meteorological Agency Dismissed It as High Tide

Whilst we are mourning the loss of all that have perished in Saturday’s Sunda Strait tsunami in Indonesia, one viral video has surfaced online about the earliest signs of the natural disaster that has now claimed 373 lives with more than 14,000 others injured.

The video uploaded to Twitter by @BiLLRaY_ shows the drastic rise of sea levels in Pantai Anyer, Bentan at 9.15 pm local time, just 12 minutes before the catastrophic tsunami hit the island’s shores at 9.27 pm.

Source: Twitter

Recorded at Hotel Grand Elti Krakatau in Pantai Anyer, @BiLLRaY_ captioned the video with a warning of how a tsunami is pending, given how sea waves have gone up into the hotel.

In the video, he can be heard saying in Bahasa Indonesia,

“Oh God, the sea water level has risen!”

Source: Twitter

However, the video was deleted by him when the official Twitter account of Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BKMG) tweeted that what happened in Anyer was not a tsunami but just a high tide phenomenon. Thinking that he made a mistake, @BiLLRaY_ decided it’s best to delete his video.

However, it turned out that the Indonesian agency was the one who made a grievous error as it was later confirmed that the catastrophic incident was indeed a tsunami! The tsunami was indeed not caused by an earthquake, as the Guardian reported, but was due to undersea landslides that followed an eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano.

The tweet by BKMG was later deleted as the misinformation and the smiling face with sunglasses emoji at the end of the tweet was very disrespectful to the victims in retrospect. Here are the follow-up tweets by the agency:

UPDATE:
Gelombang pasang di Anyer dan sekitarnya memang bukan tsunami karena aktivitas gempa tektonik. Namun hal tersebut DIDUGA tsunami akibat aktivitas gunung Anak Krakatau, setelah mendapat data dari Badan Geologi. #BMKG akan melakukan verifikasi lanjutan mengenai fenomena ini

— BMKG (@infoBMKG) December 22, 2018

Having confirmed that what he recorded was indeed an early sign of a tsunami, @BiLLRaY_ reuploaded the video in a new tweet with captions of prayers for all those affected by the tsunami here:

Ya Allah…ampunilah dosa2 kami, lindungilah saudara2 kami yg terkena musibah. Bagi almarhum smg diterima disisiNYA. Semua ini kehendakNYA.
Aamiin Yaa Robbal’alamiin.#PrayForAnyer #PrayForBanten #PrayForLampung #PrayForSeventeen pic.twitter.com/fMnNHoeyrW

— BiLLRaY (@BiLLRaY_) December 23, 2018

You can watch the full video here:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all that are affected by the devastating tsunami in Sunda Strait, Indonesia.

Also read: BREAKING: Tsunami Wave Crashes Onto Concert While Famous Band Still Performing