Indonesia 5.6 magnitude quake kills 62, injuring hundreds and 2,200 houses damaged

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds in Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday.

The epicenter was near the town of Cianjur in West Java, about 75 km (45 miles) southeast of Jakarta, where some structures shook and some offices were vacated.  The BNPB said more than 2,200 houses had been damaged, and more than 5,300 people had been displaced.

Within two hours, 25 aftershocks had been registered, BMKG said, adding there were crises about more landslides in the event of heavy rain.

Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said 62 people had been killed. At least 25 people were trapped under collapsed buildings, it said.

BNPB spokesperson Abdul Buhari said the search would continue through the night, reports Reuters.

“So many buildings crumbled and shattered,” West Java governor Ridwan Kamil told reporters.

“There are residents trapped in isolated places … so we are under the assumption that the number of injured and deaths will rise with time.”

 

BREAKING: #BNNIndonesia Reports

According to local officials, "nearly 20 people were killed and 300 were injured" in #Indonesia's #WestJava 5.6 magnitude #earthquake. pic.twitter.com/jFlNLVssVb

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A 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Java island on Monday

Electricity was down and disrupting communications efforts, Herman Suherman, head of Cianjur’s government, said, adding that a landslide was blocking evacuations in one area.

Hundreds of victims were treated in a hospital parking lot, some under an emergency tent. Elsewhere in Cianjur, residents huddled together on mats in open fields or tents while buildings around them had been reduced almost entirely to rubble.

Officials were still working to determine the full extent of the damage caused by the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, according to the weather and geophysics agency (BMKG).

BREAKING: Earthquake rattled Indonesia’s main Island Java. About 40 people killed and over 300 injured
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Vani, who was being treated at Cianjur main hospital, told MetroTV that the walls of her house collapsed during an aftershock.

“The walls and wardrobe just fell… Everything was flattened; I don’t even know the whereabouts of my mother and father,” she said.