The May 1998 riots of Indonesia (Indonesian: Kerusuhan Mei 1998), also known as the 1998 tragedy (Tragedi 1998) or simply the 1998 event (Peristiwa 1998), were incidents of mass violence, demonstrations, and civil unrest of a racial nature that occurred throughout Indonesia, mainly in Medan in the province of North Sumatra (4–8 May), the capital city Jakarta (12–15 May), and Surakarta (also called Solo) in the province of Central Java (13–15 May). The riots were triggered by economic problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment. It eventually led to the resignation of President Suharto and the fall of the New Order government. The main targets of the violence were ethnic Chinese Indonesians, but most of the casualties were caused by a massive fire and occurred among looters.