Java, the largest island in Indonesia, was shaken by a shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake on Monday that destroyed buildings and caused a landslide, according to local officials. At least 44 people were killed and hundreds were injured.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicentre of the earthquake occurred in the Cianjur district of West Java, although it was felt as far away as Jakarta, where terrified citizens fled into the streets.
“There have been several fatalities. 44 people have died so far, “Adam, a spokesman for the local government in Cianjur town who goes by one name like many Indonesians, told AFP.
He said that the earthquake may have caused damage to thousands of homes.
Without giving a specific number, the head of local government in the town most severely affected by the earthquake said that the majority of the fatalities were recorded in just one hospital, and that many more residents of the surrounding villages still needed to be evacuated.
According to the information I have as of right now, nearly 20 people have died in this hospital alone, and at least 300 others are receiving treatment, Herman Suherman told Metro TV. The majority of them suffered fractures from being imprisoned by constructing rubble.
Local media said that the earthquake in the area seriously destroyed shops, a hospital, and an Islamic boarding school.
The buildings in Cianjur with collapsed roofs and street-level rubble were seen on television.
Suherman said that victims’ families had gathered at the Sayang hospital in the town and forewarned that the death toll would increase since there may still be stranded inhabitants in the surrounding villages.
“In this hospital, we are now taking care of patients who are experiencing an emergency. The ambulances continue to arrive at the hospital from the villages, he added.
Many families still reside in the villages and have not been evacuated. At least 14 people have perished in the Cianjur area, according to the nation’s disaster head Suharyanto, who also goes by one name, although he added that further details were “still unfolding.”
Despite saving a mother and her infant child from a landslide, Cianjur police chief Doni Hermawan informed Metro TV that a third person they discovered had passed away from their wounds.
Jakarta shook.
Residents close to the quake were advised by the nation’s meteorological office to be vigilant for more earthquakes.
Dwikorita Karnawati, the chief of Indonesia’s meteorology service, told reporters, “We call on people to stay outside the buildings for now as there could be possible aftershocks.” The USGS had previously given the earthquake a magnitude of 5.4. No serious injuries or property damage were reported in Jakarta.
A 22-year-old lawyer named Mayadita Waluyo recalled how terrified staff sprinted for the exits of their Jakarta building as the earthquake hit.
“I was working when the ground under me began to tremble. I was acutely aware of the trembling. I made no effort to grasp what it was, but it just became stronger and persisted for a while “She said.
Because I had to descend from the 14th level, I now feel a little lightheaded and my legs are a little constricted.
After the earthquake, hundreds of people were waiting outside, some of them were wearing hard helmets to guard against falling debris, according to an AFP correspondent present.
Indonesia’s location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates meet, causes regular seismic and volcanic activity.
In January of last year, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Sulawesi left more than 100 people dead.
