At least 162 people died and hundreds were injured in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java on Monday that shook skyscrapers as far north as the capital Jakarta.
“I am sorry to report that there are 162 dead,” West Java governor Ridwan Kamil said in a video seen by AFP, a figure confirmed by administration spokesman of Java Adam, the city of Cianjur which, like many Indonesians, has a name only. An earlier report, presented by West Java province governor Ridwan Kamil, reported 56 dead and over 700 injured. “Due to the large number of people still stranded at the scene, we estimate the number of people killed and injured will increase,” the governor added.
Continuous influx of victims
Herman Suherman, head of the administration of the city of Cianjur, near which the epicenter of the earthquake was located, spoke for his part about a continuous influx of victims on the Metro TV channel. According to him, the Sayang hospital in Cianjur has no access to electricity after the earthquake, leaving doctors unable to operate on the victims and the authorities need more medical personnel due to the large number of patients.
Residents transported the victims to the hospital in pick-up trucks and motorcycles, according to images obtained by AFP. The bodies of those who had died were placed in front of the factory, under a tarp. “We are currently caring for people who are in emergency situations at this hospital. Ambulances continue to arrive at the hospital from villages,” said Herman Suherman. “There are many families in the villages that have not yet been evacuated.”
Call to stay away
“Hundreds, maybe even thousands of homes were damaged” by the quake, Adam said. Shops, a hospital and a Muslim college in the city suffered extensive damage from the earthquake, according to local press.
The media showed several buildings in Cianjur whose roofs had collapsed. “We urge people to stay out of the buildings for now, as there could be possible aftershocks,” Indonesian Meteorological Agency director Dwikorita Karnawati told reporters.
Evacuated buildings in Jakarta
The epicenter was located near Cianjur, about 100 kilometers south of Jakarta, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which initially estimated the earthquake’s magnitude at 5.4.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage in Jakarta, but in the capital, people were rushing out of buildings. Mayadita Waluyo, a 22-year-old attorney, described the panic of employees rushing for emergency exits. “I was working when the earth shook. I could clearly feel the shaking,” she said.
Hundreds of people waited outside after the quake, some wearing hard hats to prevent falling debris, an AFP reporter said.
series of earthquakes
Indonesia is regularly confronted with earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, due to its location on the Pacific ring of fire where tectonic plates meet. In 2018, the island of Lombok and the neighboring island of Sumbawa were hit by a massive earthquake that killed more than 550 people. The same year, another 7.5-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that struck Palu, Sulawesi, killing 4,300 people.
The island of Java was instead hit by an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 in 2006, near the city of Yogyakarta (in the center), which had caused about 6,000 deaths and tens of thousands injured. A year earlier, an 8.7-magnitude earthquake that hit the regularly-hit coast of Sumatra killed more than 900 people. But the country remains marked by the earthquake of 26 December 2004 with a magnitude of 9.1 off the coast of Sumatra.
It caused a large tsunami that killed 220,000 people across the region, including 170,000 in Indonesia alone, one of the deadliest natural disasters on record.
