Shallow quake kills 162, injures hundreds on Indonesia’s Java island

CIANJUR: A shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed at least 162 people, with hundreds injured and others missing, when it toppled buildings and triggered landslides on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, officials said.

Doctors treated patients outdoors after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta, left hospitals in the West Java town of Cianjur without power for several hours.

“I regret to inform that 162 are dead. 326 are injured with most of them sustained fractures from being crushed in ruins,” Ridwan Kamil, governor of worst-hit province West Java, told a press conference in a video seen by AFP. He said most of the victims were children.

Adam, spokesman for the local administration in Cianjur town, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, confirmed the toll to AFP.

Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, still lists the toll at 62. Due to miscounting, officials offered wildly fluctuating death tolls after an Indonesian stadium disaster last month.

The BNPB said 25 people remained trapped under the rubble as the rescue mission stretched into the night.

The agency said more than 2,000 houses were damaged and Kamil said more than 13,000 people were taken to evacuation centres.

“You can see it yourself, some got their heads, feet sewn outdoors. Some got stressed and started crying,” Kamil said.

Kamil said power had been partially restored by the evening, without specifying if that meant by generators or connection to a power grid.