Earthquake rocks Indonesia
At least 46 dead
CIANJUR – An earthquake shook indonesia’s main island of java yesterday, killing at least 46 people, damaging dozens of buildings and sending residents into the streets for safety.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the magnitude 5.6 quake was centered in the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 10 kilometers.
“There are 46 dead people at the Cianjur regional hospital and around 700 injured people. Many were hurt because they were hit by collapsed buildings,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said.
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.
The USGS said the earthquake was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta, where panicked residents ran into the streets.
“There have been dozens of people killed. So far, 44 people have died,” Adam, a spokesman for the local administration in Cianjur town, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP in an earlier interview.
He said as many as thousands of houses could have been damaged in the quake.
The local administration chief in the town worst hit by the temblor said most of the deaths were counted in one hospital alone, with many others in surrounding villages still to be evacuated.
The country’s meteorological agency warned residents near the quake to watch out for more tremors.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide.
A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January last year killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.