A strong, shallow earthquake toppled buildings and walls on Indonesia’s densely populated main island of Java, killing at least 56 people and injuring hundreds as people rushed into the streets, some covered in blood and white remains
Emergency workers treated the injured on stretchers outside major hospitals, on terraces and in parking lots. Many included children, some of whom were receiving oxygen masks, IV lines and were being resuscitated.
Residents, some crying with children in their arms, fled damaged homes after the 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Cianjur region in West Java province late afternoon at a depth of 10 kilometers. It also caused panic in the greater Jakarta area, where skyscrapers swayed and some were evacuated.
Workers inspect a store damaged during an earthquake in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Firman Taqur) (AP)
Rescue teams and civilians in Cianjur were searching for others who may have been buried in the rubble of the collapsed brick houses. The earthquake was powerful enough to knock down walls, chunks of concrete and roof tiles, some of which fell into bedrooms.
“The earthquake was very strong. My colleagues and I decided to leave our office on the ninth floor using the emergency stairs,” said Vidi Primadhania, an employee in South Jakarta.
In a photo released by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, rescuers inspect a school damaged by the earthquake in Cianjur, West Java. (BASARNAS via AP) (AP)
Herman Suherman, the head of Cianjur regency, said the death toll reached 56 on Monday evening. About 700 were injured, National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said.
Several landslides were recorded around Cianjur. An Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities were among the dozens of damaged buildings, the agency said.
Information on the extent of casualties and damage was still being gathered.
Some victims and survivors were being taken to the government hospital in Cianjur, where emergency tents were erected and workers treated the injured.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded at least 25 aftershocks.
Several people have died in an earthquake in Indonesia. (earthquake.usgs.gov/)
Earthquakes occur frequently in the vast archipelago country, but are rarely felt in Jakarta.
The country of more than 270 million people is frequently hit by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and faults in the Pacific basin.
In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province.
People wait outside an office building after being evacuated following an earthquake, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in the main business district of Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) (AP)
In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.
A powerful Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.