PANGANDARAN, Indonesia – A tsunami crashed into beach resorts and fishing villages on Java island Monday, killing at least 86 people and leaving scores missing after bulletins failed to reach the region because no warning system was in place.

The coastal area was spared by the devastating Asian tsunami of 2004, but many residents recognized the danger when they saw the sea recede.

Frantic tourists and villagers shouted “Tsunami! Tsunami!” as the more than 6-foot-high wave approached, some climbing trees or fleeing to higher ground to escape. Others crowded into inland mosques to pray.

Regional agencies had warned that a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck 150 miles off Indonesia’s southern coast was strong enough to create a tsunami on Java. But there was no warning system for those on the southern coast.

The hardest-hit area appeared to be Pangandaran, an idyllic beach resort popular with local and foreign tourists.

Jan Boeken, from Antwerp, Belgium, said he was sitting at a bar when his waiter started screaming.

“I looked back at the beach and saw a big wall of thundering black water coming toward us,” said the 53-year-old, who escaped with minor cuts to the head and knees. “I ran, but I got trapped in the kitchen, I couldn’t get out. I got hit in the body by debris and my lungs filled with water.”

The Indonesian Red Cross, police and district officials said at least 82 people were killed and 77 others were unaccounted for, most in Pangandaran and nearby Cilacap. El-Shinta radio reported four other deaths.

“We are still evacuating areas and cross-checking data,” Red Cross official Arifin Muhadi told The Associated Press.

Most of the victims were believed to be Indonesians, but at least one Swedish tourist was being treated for injuries at a hospital near Pangandaran and his two sons, 5 and 10, were missing, said Jan Janonius, a Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman.