TWO BASQUE SURFERS SURVIVE TO THE TSUNAMI OF INDONESIA

Two surfers Basques have survived the tsunami that struck this morning off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which has killed at least 40 dead and 380 missing. Joining them also were five Cantabrian, two Asturians, two Uruguayans, two French and Galicians.
The surfers were part of an expedition to the Mentawai archipelago and were surprised by the tsunami while they were sleeping on board in a private boat. Apparently, the choice of a sheltered anchorage located between the islands was crucial to avert disaster.
During the early hours of the day, the expedition came to the aid of other vessels in the area. They found so many resorts have been "totally devastated" and that a ship had disappeared and another was burned, among other situations. The surfers had planned to stay in the area until November 3rd.


The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake near the island of Sumatra and devastated several remote islands in western Indonesia. The earthquake of 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, occurred 78 kilometers from South Pagai, in the Mentawai Islands, late on Monday. Many buildings in the coastal town of Betu Monga have been destroyed.
In addition, a ship carrying tourists in the 8 to 10 Australians has not kept radio contact since the earthquake. Also, the resort Macaronis surfer on the island of North Pagai, was also seriously damaged.

BORJA