The 2006 Pangandaran earthquake Catastrophe and tsunami Catastrophe occurred Presence on July 17 at along a subduction zone off the coast of west and central Java , a large and densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago .

Other factors may have contributed to exceptionally high peak runups of on the small and mostly uninhabited island of Nusa Kambangan , just to the east of the resort town of Pangandaran , where damage Damaging was heavy and a large loss Death of life occurred Presence .