The wave smashed into the resort town of Pangandaran, crushing buildings, including small hotels, and sending boats slamming into the shore, witnesses said.

In scenes grimly reminiscent of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the wave hit with little or no warning, forcing people to flee in panic to high ground. Residents spoke of severe damage to many buildings, and some reported seeing numerous dead bodies.

At least two regional agencies issued bulletins saying that a magnitude 7.2 earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean was strong enough to cause a killer wave. But the alerts did not reach the victims because a warning was not issued specifically for that area and the densely populated island — where an earthquake killed thousands only seven weeks ago — does not have its own tsunami warning system.

Pangandaran, a beach resort long popular with local residents and tourists, appeared to be hardest hit. Witnesses said that people shouted, “tsunami, tsunami”, and climbed trees or crowded inland mosques as the wave approached.

“All the houses are destroyed along the beach,” a woman told a local radio station. “Small hotels are completely destroyed and at least one restaurant was washed away.”

The extent of the damage farther up the coast was not clear, with some roads blocked and power and phone lines cut.

Last night, the injury toll stood at 148 with 122 still missing, an Indonesian Red Cross official said.

There were no immediate reports of the death of foreigners, but a Swedish man was being treated at a local hospital and his two sons, aged 5 and 10, were missing, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said.

A 40-year-old Belgian tourist named Ian, said he was in a bar when suddenly water rushed in, knocking him unconscious. He woke up in a clinic. “I was drinking at the bar. The sea wall came after me — I was thinking this is the end.”

Miswan, a witness, said that he had seen the water withdraw about 500 metres from the beach half an hour before the wave hit, which typically occurs before a tsunami. “I could see fish jumping around on the ocean floor,” he said. “Later I saw a wave like a black wall.”

The Indonesian military is helping rescue teams to search for the missing. The tidal wave was caused by an earthquake that struck more than 25 miles (40km) under the seabed off the island’s southern coast.

Another quake hit Yogyakarta, also on Java, this year, claiming 5,300 lives. The initial quake yesterday was followed by at least five powerful aftershocks.

Indonesia suffered the heaviest losses from the 2004 tsunami, which killed 220,000 people across the region. Although that accelerated the push for a regional tsunami warning system, there was none in place capable of detecting the wave yesterday. Centres in Hawaii and Japan predicted tsunamis only for other parts of Indonesia and Australia.

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