The death toll from the earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java rises rapidly on Monday. According to the latest data from the authorities, there are at least 162 victims. The shock was of magnitude 5.6 and was felt, among other places, in the capital Jakarta.
The epicenter was in the West Java city of Cianjur, about 75 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, the Indonesian Meteorological Agency (BMKG) reported. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers. There was no risk of a tsunami.
“Hundreds, perhaps thousands of buildings were damaged,” a local government spokesman in Cianjur said. These include a school, hospital, houses and shops. The quake also caused power outages. Relief efforts are hampered because the roads have become impassable due to landslides.
As far as is known, there were no casualties in Jakarta. There, buildings began shaking and people were evacuated from offices, among other places. No significant damage was reported in the capital either.
Indonesia is part of the so-called Ring of Fire, an area in the Pacific Ocean with more than a hundred active volcanoes and many earthquakes. The Indonesian island of Sulawesi was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in January 2021. More than 100 people were killed.
