Indonesia: At least 56 dead, 700 hurt in quake
The earthquake was felt strongly in the greater Jakarta area, high rises in the capital swayed and some were evacuated
CIANJUR: A strong earthquake toppled buildings and collapsed walls on Indonesia’s densely populated main island of Java on Monday, killing at least 56 and injuring hundreds as people rushed into the streets, some covered in blood and white debris.
Emergency workers were treating the injured on stretchers outside main hospitals, on terraces and in parking lots. Many included children, some of whom were given oxygen masks, IV lines and were being resuscitated.
Residents, some crying with children in their arms, fled damaged homes after the 5.6 magnitude quake shook the Cianjur region in West Java in the afternoon, at a depth of 10 kms.
JAKARTA: An earthquake shook Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, killing at least 56 people, injuring more than 700, damaging dozens of buildings and sending residents into the capital’s streets for safety.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.6 quake was centered in the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 10 kilometres.
“Data from the district head team - 56 people died and more than 700 injured. Because there are still a lot of people trapped on the scene, we assume injuries and fatalities will increase over time,” West Java governor Ridwan Kamil told a news conference.
Several landslides were reported around Cianjur. Dozens of buildings were damaged, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities, the agency said. Information was still being collected about the extent of casualties and damage, it said in a statement.
Footage from Metro TV showed some buildings in Cianjur reduced almost entirely to rubble as worried residents huddled outside. Muchlis, who was in Cianjur when the quake hit, said he felt “a huge tremor” and the walls and ceiling of his office building were damaged.
“I was very shocked. I worried there would be another quake,” Muchlis told Metro TV, adding that people ran out of their houses, some fainting and vomiting in response.
The quake was felt strongly in the greater Jakarta area. High rises in the capital swayed and some were evacuated.
“The quake felt so strong. My colleagues and I decided to get out of our office on the ninth floor using the emergency stairs,” said Vidi Primadhania, an employee in South Jakarta.
Earthquakes occur frequently across the sprawling archipelago nation, but it is uncommon for them to be felt in Jakarta.
The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.