Indonesia quake kills scores, reduces homes to rubble, injuring hundreds - Reuters

CIANJUR, Indonesia, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed much than 60 radical and injured hundreds successful Indonesia's West Java state connected Monday, with rescuers trying to scope survivors trapped nether the rubble amid a bid of aftershocks.

The epicentre was adjacent the municipality of Cianjur successful West Java, astir 75 km (45 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, wherever immoderate buildings shook and immoderate offices were evacuated.

Indonesia's catastrophe mitigation bureau (BNPB) said 62 radical had been killed. At slightest 25 radical were trapped nether collapsed buildings, it said.

BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said the hunt would proceed done the night.

"So galore buildings crumbled and shattered," West Java politician Ridwan Kamil told reporters.

"There are residents trapped successful isolated places ... truthful we are nether the presumption that the fig of injured and deaths volition emergence with time."

Indonesia straddles the alleged "Pacific Ring of Fire", a highly seismically progressive zone, wherever antithetic plates connected the Earth's crust conscionable and make a ample fig of earthquakes and volcanoes.

The BNPB said much than 2,200 houses had been damaged and much than 5,300 radical had been displaced.

Electricity was down and disrupting communications efforts, Herman Suherman, caput of Cianjur's government, said, adding that a landslide was blocking evacuations successful 1 area.

Hundreds of victims were being treated successful a infirmary parking lot, immoderate nether an exigency tent. Elsewhere successful Cianjur, residents huddled unneurotic connected mats successful unfastened fields oregon successful tents portion buildings astir them had been reduced astir wholly to rubble.

Officials were inactive moving to find the afloat grade of the harm caused by the quake, which struck astatine a comparatively shallow extent of 10 km, according to the upwind and geophysics bureau (BMKG).

Vani, who was being treated astatine Cianjur main hospital, told MetroTV that the walls of her location collapsed during an aftershock.

"The walls and wardrobe conscionable fell... Everything was flattened, I don't adjacent cognize the whereabouts of my parent and father," she said.

Within 2 hours, 25 aftershocks had been recorded, BMKG said, adding determination were concerns astir much landslides successful the lawsuit of dense rain.

In Jakarta, immoderate radical evacuated offices successful the cardinal concern district, portion others reported buildings shaking and furnishings moving, Reuters witnesses said.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake disconnected Sumatra land successful bluish Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, sidesplitting 226,000 radical on the Indian Ocean coastline, much than fractional of them successful Indonesia.

Reporting by Tommy Ardiansyah, Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana and Johan Purnomo successful Cianjur, Ananda Teresia, Gayatri Suroyo, Fransiska Nangoy successful Jakarta Writing by Ed Davies and Kate Lamb; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Kim Coghill, Toby Chopra and Nick Macfie

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