Photo: VCG

PANDEGLANG, Indonesia, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the tsunami triggered by a volcanic eruption in Indonesia rose to 373, with 1,459 others injured, a spokesman of the agency said.

A joint rescue team with heavy machinery equipment has reached more tsunami-affected areas, retrieving more victims of the catastrophe, which struck the coast along Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands Saturday night, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

"The rescue team keeps searching in rattled areas along the coast. With hard works and supported by heavy machinery equipment, the rescuers have been able to arrive in some devastated areas which were previously difficult to reach," Sutopo told Xinhua.

The search and rescue operation for victims of the tsunami, triggered by an underwater landslides after the eruption, was underway in the hardest-hit Pandeglang and Serang districts in Banten province, and Lampung Selatan, Panawaran and Tenggamus districts in Lampung province, he added.

"The absence and failure of early tsunami warning systems have contributed to the huge casualties because people have no opportunity to be evacuated," Sutopo said.

The impact of the catastrophe was also amplified at the tourist destination when the tsunami struck Saturday night during a peak time of holiday.

The tsunami has displaced 5,665 people who were taking shelter in evacuation centers, the spokesman said, adding that the figure dropped from 11,453 as many of the evacuees had returned home.

The tsunami also devastated a total of 681 houses, 69 hotels and villas, as well as 420 ships and boats, the spokesman said.

The emergency relief efforts, involving thousands of soldiers, police and personnel from the search and rescue office, the disaster management office and volunteers, were focused on the search and rescue of the victims, said Sutopo.

High waves of 4-5 meters slammed into the shore, Endang Permana, head of emergency department of the disaster management agency in the district, told Xinhua.

The meteorology and geophysics agency has banned activities in the coastal areas after the deadly tsunami, as the assessment of volcanic eruption risk was being taken, said Sutopo.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive tsunami triggered by a powerful quake hit countries along the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people, including 170,000 in Aceh province of northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatoa, is one of the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a vast archipelagic nation home to 17,500 islands, sitting on a quake-prone zone of so-called "the Pacific Ring of Fire."