Indonesia quake kills more than 50, injures hundreds

JAKARTA - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 50 people and injured hundreds in Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday, with rescuers trying to reach survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks as night fell.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil confirmed 56 deaths from the quake, whose epicentre was the town of Cianjur, about 75km south-east of the capital, Jakarta, where some buildings shook and some offices were evacuated.

"So many buildings crumbled and shattered," Ridwan told reporters.

"There are residents trapped in isolated places ... so we are under the assumption that the number of injured and deaths will rise with time."

Indonesia straddles the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

The national disaster agency (BNPB) said 23 people were likely still trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. More than 1,770 houses were damaged and nearly 3,900 people had been displaced in Cianjur, spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

Electricity was down and disrupting communications efforts, Herman Suherman, head of Cianjur's government, said, adding that people in the area of Cugenang were unable to be evacuated because of a landslide blocking access.

Footage from news channel Metro TV showed what appeared to be hundreds of victims being treated in a hospital parking lot and some buildings in Cianjur reduced almost entirely to rubble as worried residents huddled outside.

Other TV channels showed victims hooked up to intravenous drips and being treated on the sidewalk.

Officials were still working to determine the full extent of the damage caused by the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10km, according to the weather and geophysics agency (BMKG).

Muchlis, who was in Cianjur when the quake hit, said he felt "a huge tremor" and his office walls and ceiling were damaged.

"I was very shocked. I worried there would be another quake," Muchlis told Metro TV, adding that people ran out of their houses, some fainting and vomiting in response.

Less than two hours after the quake, 25 aftershocks had been recorded, BMKG said, adding there were concerns about the potential for more landslides in the event of heavy rain.

In Jakarta, some people evacuated offices in the central business district, while others reported buildings shaking and furniture moving, Reuters witnesses said.

- REUTERS