The death toll from a volcano-triggered tsunami that crashed a coastal area of Indonesia without warning is nearing 300 people.

The death toll rose from 222 to 281 on Monday morning, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesia Disaster Mitigation Agency. There were 1,016 people reported as injured and 57 missing.

The hardest hit area, the Pandeglang District on the island of Java, reported 164 deaths, 624 people injured and two people missing on Sunday, according to the disaster agency. The agency said the number of dead and the breadth of the destruction were likely to rise as searchers descend on the damaged parts of the country.

That area is a tourist mecca, and the agency said many of the victims were visiting beaches for the holidays. The equatorial Southeast Asian nation, the world's fourth-most populated, is made up of thousands of volcanic islands.

The waves that swept people, homes and other buildings into the sea followed an eruption and possible landslide on Anak Krakatau, one of the world’s most infamous volcanic islands.

Natasya Phebe, a health specialist with humanitarian aid group World Vision, was at a restaurant on the beach minutes before the tsunami hit. She said she noticed a rise in the sea level and a lot of garbage floating in the water.

"Then I heard the ocean rumbling and felt an odd vibration, so we decided to leave," she said. "Ten minutes later the tsunami hit, and now that restaurant is gone.”

She said her medical team was seeing numerous trauma injuries, some the result of motorbike crashes and other collisions amid the chaos and panic as vacationers fled the roaring water.

All the fatalities in the initial counts were Indonesian, the agency said. The government was setting up food and water distribution stations and mobile medical facilities.

"We are preparing an air survey and mapping with the help of the Indonesian military," agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he ordered all government agencies to conduct emergency response measures aimed at rescuing survivors and saving lives.

"My deep condolences to the victims in Banten and Lumpung provinces," he said. "Hopefully, those who are left have patience."

More:Video shows the haunting moment tsunami sweeps away Indonesian band

Footage posted on social media from an outdoor concert by the band Seventeen shows a raucous audience clapping and dancing moments before the stage collapses as the tsunami hits.

The band's lead singer, Riefian Fajarsyah, later posted on Instagram that some band members had died and others were missing. His wife was also among those unaccounted for.

"Please pray that my wife Dylan (Sahara) will be found soon," he said.

The band later announced a second death. At least one other band member and another member of the band's crew also were missing.

"The tide rose to the surface and dragged all the people on site," the band's statement said. "Unfortunately, when the current receded our members are unable to save themselves while some did not find a place to hold on."

The international aid organization Oxfam said it was coordinating with Indonesian authorities and other humanitarian agencies in order to assess the needs.

"We know affected communities will need food and access to clean water," Oxfam Australia’s Humanitarian Manager Meg Quartermaine said.

The tsunami is the second to hit Indonesia in three months. A tsunami triggered by an earthquake killed more than 2,000 people in September.

This time, Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said it recorded a series of tremors and an eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait near Java. But the agency said it was not certain the eruption triggered the tsunami.

Last week, the agency had warned that at least 20 volcanoes in the country were experiencing higher than normal levels of activity. Volcanoes are popular tourist destinations during the holiday season.

Most major telecommunications companies in the region said their networks were holding up well. XL Axiata group spokesman Tri Wahyuni told the Antara news agency the network was "safe and normal so far."

The tsunami struck the area around Sundra Strait, which connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, shortly before 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

"I had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed (more than 50 feet) inland," Norwegian Oystein Lund Andersen wrote on Facebook. "Next the wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road behind it."

He said he and his family fled to higher ground through a forest, where villagers aided them.

"Kind of crazy having experienced a tsunami," he said. "And I have now officially even outrun one."

Contributing: The Associated Press