The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Deaths and devastation after quake
Astrong, shallow earthquake has toppled buildings and collapsed walls on Indonesia’s densely populated main island of Java, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds more.
Emergency workers treated the injured on stretchers and blankets outside main hospitals, on terraces and in car parks after the magnitude 5.6 tremor.
Many casualties included children, some of whom were resuscitated while others were given oxygen masks.
Residents, some crying with children in their arms, fled damaged homes after the quake shook the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 6.2 miles. The tremor also caused panic in the greater Jakarta area, where high-rises swayed and many were evacuated.
Rescue teams and civilians in Cianjur were looking for others who may have been buried in the debris of collapsed brick houses. The quake was powerful enough to bring down walls, chunks of concrete and roof tiles, some of which landed inside bedrooms.
West Java governor Ridwan Kamil said the number of confirmed dead had risen to 162.
He said: “The majority of those who died were children,” adding that many were public school students who had finished their regular classes and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools.
Kamil said more than 13,000 people whose homes had been heavily damaged were being taken to evacuation centres.
Around 700 people were injured, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said.
Several landslides were reported around Cianjur. Among the dozens of buildings that were damaged was an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities, the agency said.
Most of the victims and survivors were taken to the government hospital in Cianjur, where emergency tents were erected and workers treated the injured.
Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology, and geophysical agency recorded at least 25 aftershocks.
The country of more than 270 million is located on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
Earthquakes occur frequently across the sprawling archipelago nation, but it is uncommon for them to be felt in Jakarta.