A 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia left 162 dead

CNN
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The death toll was 5.6 Earthquake in IndonesiaThe number of West Java province rose to 162, according to its governor.

Ridwan Kamel, governor of West Java, told a news conference that about 326 people were injured, with varying degrees of severity.

The quake struck Cianjur district in West Java on Monday at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

The earthquake has displaced 13,782 people – all of whom will be housed in 14 refugee camp sites. At least 2,345 homes were damaged.

The local office of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said four schools and 52 homes collapsed or were badly damaged. A mosque and a hospital were also damaged, according to the agency.

Reuters reported that the bank said there was no danger of a tsunami.

Hermann Sehrmann, a government official in Cianjur, told the media that some residents were trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Metro TV news channel showed what appeared to be hundreds of victims being treated in the hospital’s parking garage.

It said an Islamic boarding school was also damaged, while communications were disrupted due to power outages.

Television footage showed residents huddled outside buildings that were almost completely reduced to rubble, according to Reuters.

One of them, whose name was only Mochlis, said he felt a “strong tremor” and the walls and ceiling of his office were damaged.

“I was very shocked. Mochliss told Metro TV.

BMKG warned of the danger of landslides, especially in the event of heavy rains, as 25 aftershocks were recorded in the two hours following the earthquake.

Speaking at a previous press conference, Governor Kamel said the death toll was likely to rise further.

“There are still many residents trapped in the accident sites, and we assume that the victims, the injured and the dead will continue to increase over time,” Kamel said earlier on Monday.

Currently, rescuers are unable to reach some of the trapped people, he said, adding that the situation remains chaotic with the possibility of more aftershocks.

Kamel added that government authorities are currently building tents and shelters for the victims while meeting their basic needs.

Indonesia sits on the “Ring of Fire,” a band around the Pacific Ocean that experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. One of the most seismically active regions on the planet, it stretches from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific Ocean all the way to California and South America on the other side.

In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the island of Sumatra in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coast, more than half of them in Indonesia.