PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (AP) – Rumors of another killer wave sparked mass panic yesterday in the town hardest hit by the Indonesian tsunami, while the death toll rose to 531, with more than 270 missing.

More than 1,000 residents of the beach resort of Pangandaran ran, bicycled or drove inland amid shouts of

“The water is coming!”

“People suddenly started running so I joined them,” said Marino, 42.

Amateur video aired yesterday on Metro TV showed children playing in the surf and building sandcastles, followed by brief shots of a wall of black water bearing down on Pangandaran beach on Java island’s south coast. The camera operator runs away amid the sound of screaming.

The region has been rattled by aftershocks. A strong quake yesterday off Java’s coast – just hours after the panic in Pangandaran – caused buildings in the capital, Jakarta, to sway for more than a minute. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 7.7 undersea earthquake, smashed into a 180-kilometer (110-mile) stretch of Java’s coastline.

Waves more than two metres (six feet) high reached 200 metres inland in some places, destroying scores of houses, restaurants and hotels. Cars, motorbikes and boats were left mangled amid fishing nets, furniture and other debris.

Ambulances with sirens blaring brought bodies to a cemetery in Pangandaran for a mass burial as hundreds of spectators looked on. As darkness fell, 24 unidentified corpses were tagged with numbers and laid in the ground, five children among them.

Yesterday’s quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1.

Suharjono, head of the earthquake division at Jakarta’s meteorological agency, told Metro TV that the temblor was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami, but he urged people to be on guard.