A powerful earthquake has rocked Indonesia’s main island of Java, killing 162 people and injuring hundreds of others – with rescuers searching for survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks.
The epicentre of the 5.6 magnitude earthquake was near the town of Cianjur in mountainous West Java, about 75km (45 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta. The region is home to over 2.5 million people.
Many of the dead were public school students who had finished their classes for the day and were taking extra lessons at several Islamic schools when they collapsed, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said as he announced the new death toll in the remote area.
The toll is expected to rise further, but no estimates were immediately available. The residents of Cianjur live mostly in towns of single and two-storey buildings and in smaller homes in the surrounding countryside.
Kamil said that more than 13,000 people whose homes were heavily damaged were taken to evacuation centres. He said on his Instagram page that 326 others have been injured.
Adam, the spokesman for the local administration in Cianjur town in West Java, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, confirmed the toll to AFP.
Due to miscounting, officials offered wildly fluctuating death tolls after an Indonesian stadium disaster last month.
Hundreds of buildings were damaged, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities.
Herman Suherman, a government official from Cianjur, said the town’s Sayang hospital had no power after the earthquake, leaving doctors unable to operate on victims.
Footage from Metro TV showed structures in Cianjur reduced almost entirely to rubble as worried residents huddled outside.
