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Second hit for surfers' paradise


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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inspects damage in Nias from December tsunami.
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Oxfam's Allesandra Boas was in Indonesia when quake struck

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NIAS ISLAND, Indonesia -- The Indonesian island of Nias, where hundreds of people were killed in Monday's quake, is a popular destination with foreign and local surfers.

About 70 percent of the houses and buildings in the market area in the island's main town, Gunungsitoli, collapsed in the quake, local police Sgt. Zulkifli Sirait told The Associated Press.

The airport at Gunungsitoli, on the east coast, also was damaged in Monday's quake.

The quake struck just south of the magnitude 9 event in December that triggered a huge tsunami which left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across the Indian Ocean region.

More than 100 people died on Nias as a result of the December 26 quake and tsunami.

The 5,600 sq km (2,100 sq mile) island, with some 700,000 residents, is part of Indonesia's North Sumatra province. It lies 125 km (80 miles) off the west coast of Sumatra. Sibolga is the closest mainland city.

About 95 percent of the island's residents are Christian, with the rest Muslim, according to Reuters.

Lagundri Bay on Nias became known as a surfer's paradise after the first surfers arrived from Australia a few decades ago.

They found challenging waves up to 3 metres high peeling off notorious right-hand reef breaks -- regular waves that course at an angle from left to right.

More surfers followed after the island's perfect tubing waves were featured in a string of movies.

Today an estimated 90 percent of the island's visitors are surfers.

Nias caters to waveriders with crude wooden beach shacks perched on stilts and a few surf shops and cafes.

But its remote location makes it far less popular with surfers than Indonesia's resort island of Bali.



Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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