Team News Riveting
Jakarta, November 21
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook Cianjur town in West Java of Indonesia on Monday, killing at least 162 people and injuring many others.
The authorities warn the numbers were likely to rise with many still trapped beneath rubble. At a press briefing after the quake, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Dwikorita Karnawati said the earthquake’s epicenter was located 10 kilometers below Sukalarang district in Sukabumi regency, West Java.
While the epicenter was in Sukabumi, most of the casualties have been reported in the neighboring Cianjur regency. Rescuers were working into the night to try to save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings.
The area where the quake struck is densely populated and prone to landslides, with poorly built houses reduced to rubble in many areas. The officials said over 350 people had been injured in the quake, noting that “most of them sustained fractures from being crushed in ruins”.
The West Java governor said more than 13,000 people had been displaced by the disaster, and the BNPB said over 2,200 homes had been damaged by the quake. “The earthquake also caused a landslide, which closed a cross-provincial road in Cianjur district,” officials said.
The administration had made makeshift medical camps where the injured were treated. However, authorities said they were in urgent need of tents, heavy equipment for evacuation, lighting, beds, and fuel oil.
