Indonesia’s two disasters

• A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off of western Sumatra, Indonesia, on Oct. 25, causing a 10-foot-high tsunami that killed more than 431 people on Pagai Selatan and Pagai Utara, two of the Mentawai Islands. At press time, 88 others were missing.

The quake occurred upon the same undersea fault line that caused the devastating tsunami in December 2004. Any tsunami generated there would strike the Mentawis in just a few minutes.

• On the island of Java, Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, began erupting again on Oct. 26 with lava and ash. At press time, 38 people had been killed by hot gas, ash and debris. More than 8,000 people living within a 10-kilomter radius were evacuated.