162 dead after quake rattles Indonesia
The governor of the worst-hit province told press most of the victims were children
CIANJUR, INDONESIA: A strong, shallow earthquake toppled buildings and walls on Indonesia’s densely populated main island on Monday, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds of others as residents fled into the street, some covered in blood and debris.
Officials were gathering information on the toll of those injured and killed by the quake in the remote area.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the number of confirmed dead had risen to 162.
“The majority of those who died were children,” he said. Many were public school students who had finished their regular classes and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools, he said.
Kamil said more than 13,000 people whose homes had been heavily damaged were being taken to evacuation centres.
Emergency workers treated the injured on stretchers and blankets outside hospitals, on terraces and in parking lots in the Cianjur region, about three hours drive from the capital, Java. The injured, including children, were given oxygen masks and IV lines and were being resuscitated.
Fear, panic grip town
Agus Azhari, 19, was with his mother in their family home when the living room was destroyed within seconds by the quake.Parts of the walls and roof fell to the floor, along with cupboards and other debris that hit his legs and hands.
“I couldn’t see anything. The dust from the debris blocked my sight for a while,” Azhari told AFP. He said he had never experienced an earthquake like it before. The Indonesian teen shared a video in which his 56-year-old mother screams, “Lord have mercy! My house!” as their home shook.
“I pulled my mother’s hand and we ran outside,” he said. “I heard people screaming for help from all around me.”
The shallow tremor, with a magnitude of 5.6, brought down the roofs and walls of homes built on the town’s hilly landscape. Many were made more vulnerable by the use of wood, mud and concrete in their construction.
Emergency workers raced to treat victims in any outdoor space possible, with the town’s three hospitals overwhelmed and not enough rooms to cope with an injury toll of 700.
At least 25 people were still trapped in the rubble, authorities said. Residents rushed lifeless bodies to Cianjur’s Sayang hospital in pickup trucks and on motorbikes. Power outages meant doctors were unable to operate immediately.
Some of the injured sat on stretchers or blankets with their heads and limbs bandaged. Elderly women sat in wheelchairs waiting to be treated as crowds of worried bystanders looked on.
Jakarta rattled
French President Emmanuel Macron was the first world leader to offer his condolences.
“Indonesia was hit this morning by an earthquake of destructive and deadly force. Thoughts for all the victims,” he wrote.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent condolences and said Ottawa “stands ready to help in any way”.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is yet to respond to the quake. Indonesia’s meteorological agency said it recorded 62 aftershocks in Cianjur after the quake, with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 4. There were no reports of casualties or major damage in Jakarta.
A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.