Giant Waves And Quake After-Shock Felt In Serasa Beach
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - The `after-shocks' of the recent wave of tsunamis that ravaged several parts of Asia and Africa have become apparent here in the Sultanate where beaches have been deserted by the public.

Public holidays usually witness a large number of picnickers converging at local beaches, but this was not the case yesterday.

Aside from a few food peddlers, the locals as well as foreign workers decided to forgo any beach plans.

"Locals may not come to the beach, perhaps, because they need to attend weddings.... but surprisingly, foreign workers never popped-by either.

"We are hoping this is only temporary otherwise we will have to peddle our food elsewhere," said the hawkers.

Earlier, foreign workers had told the Bulletin that they would riot be spending their holidays picnicking at beaches this year because of the tsunami aftershocks.

They said chances of a tsunami hitting the coastal areas are remote but "anything can happen in a split second."

"After what happened last week in 11 countries, there is a possibility that it can happen here, even though we are located away from the earthquake belt.

"We don't know when we will be brave enough to hit the beaches again, but for the time being, we plan to stay put on land and faraway from the beaches," they said.

In previous years, groups of foreign workers converged at beaches for the New Year countdown.

The convergence would only end the next day, as Jan 1 is a public holiday for them.

Last Sunday, a series of tidal waves or tsunami - triggered by a massive earthquake whose epicentre near Acheh, Indonesia devastated some 11 countries in Asia and Africa. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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