Rescuers searched for bodies and survivors Tuesday in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 268 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java and injured hundreds more.
Many of those killed and injured in a major earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java were children, rescuers say.
According to the reports of the US Geological Survey, the shallow earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale was centered in the Cianjur region in West Java province.
Locals in the capital, Jakarta, ran out of the buildings for safety. One woman in Cianjur said she immediately left the home with her children husband and children and the house collapsed shortly afterward.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil earlier confirmed 162 causalities. Over 700 people were injured in the catastrophe.
More than 13,000 people had been reportedly displaced by the quake, and over 2,200 homes had been damaged by the disaster.
“So many buildings crumbled and shattered,” Ridwan said while talking to the 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.”
A large number of people were rushed to the hospital, with many treated outside. Rescuers are still working trying to rescue others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings.
The region where the earthquake struck is heavily populated and prone to landslides, with poorly built houses brought down to rubble in many areas. Additionally, many buildings, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital, and other public facilities were also damaged.
Earlier the head of administration in Cianjur town, Herman Suherman, said the town’s Sayang hospital had no power after the quake, leaving doctors unable to operate on victims. He further added that most injuries were bone fractures sustained from people being trapped by debris in buildings.
“The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital,” he said. “There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated.”
Widodo visits Cianjur
President Joko Widodo visited the remote disaster zone on Tuesday where he met the responders. He instructed rescue teams to “prioritize evacuating victims that are still trapped under rubble.”
Indonesia – earthquake-prone country
Earthquakes have always been very common in Indonesia, which sits on the “ring of fire” area of tectonic activity in the Pacific. The country has a history of shattering earthquakes and tsunamis, with more than 2,000 killed in a 2018 Sulawesi quake.