Jakarta, Dec 23 (AFP) At least 20 people have been killed and more than one hundred injured in a tsunami in Indonesia that may have been caused by a volcano known as the "child" of the legendary Krakatoa, officials said early Sunday.

Dozens of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit beaches in South Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9.30 pm local time (1430 GMT) on Saturday, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

"20 people died, 165 people were injured and two people were missing in three regions," Nugroho said in a statement.

Authorities say the tsunami may have been triggered by an abnormal tidal surge due to a new moon and an underwater landslide following the eruption of Anak Krakatoa, which forms a small island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.

Indonesia's geological agency was investigating the cause, Nugroho said, adding the death toll would likely increase.

Anak Krakatoa is a small volcanic island that emerged from the ocean half a century after Krakatoa's deadly 1883 eruption.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific 'Ring of Fire', where tectonic plates collide and a large portion of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

The country regularly experiences deadly earthquakes, including most recently in the city of Palu on Sulawesi island where a quake and tsunami killed thousands of people.

Anak Krakatoa is one of 127 active volcanoes which run the length of the archipelago. (AFP) ABH

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