Shallow Quake Kills 62, Injures Hundreds On Indonesia's Java Island

A shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed at least 62 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

Cianjur, Indonesia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Nov, 2022 ) :A shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed at least 62 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.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said 25 people remained trapped under the rubble as the rescue mission stretched into the night.

The agency increased the death toll from 56 and said more than 2,000 houses were damaged and more than 5,000 people were taken to evacuation centres.

"You can see it yourself, some got their heads, feet sewn outdoors. Some got stressed and started crying," West Java governor Ridwan Kamil told a news conference broadcast on Kompas tv.

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

The afternoon quake was centred in the Cianjur region and local authorities said as many as 700 had been wounded, warning the death toll could rise further.

"Because there are still a lot of people trapped on the scene, we assume injuries and fatalities will increase over time," Kamil said as ambulance sirens blared in the background.

Agus Azhari, 19, was with his elderly mother in the family home when the living room was destroyed within seconds, parts of the walls and roof collapsing around them.

"I pulled my mother's hand, and we ran outside," he said. "I heard people screaming for help from all around me," Azhari told AFP.

The majority of deaths were counted in one hospital, the head of Cianjur's local administration Herman Suherman said earlier, with most of the victims killed in the ruins of collapsed buildings.

He told Indonesian media the town's Sayang hospital had no power after the quake, leaving doctors unable to operate on victims immediately.

More health workers were urgently needed due to the overwhelming number of patients, he said.

Locals rushed victims to the hospital in pickup trucks and on motorbikes, according to footage obtained by AFP.