Strong quake topples houses in Indonesia's Java; 162 dead, hundreds injured - KABC-TV

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CIANJUR, Indonesia -- Rescuers connected Tuesday struggled to find much bodies from the rubble of homes and buildings toppled by an earthquake that killed astatine slightest 162 radical and injured hundreds connected Indonesia's main land of Java.

More dense instrumentality reached the hardest-hit metropolis of Cianjur successful the country's astir densely populated state of West Java, wherever the magnitude 5.6 land-based quake struck Monday afternoon. Terrified residents fled into the street, immoderate covered successful humor and debris.

Damaged roads and bridges, powerfulness blackouts and deficiency of dense instrumentality antecedently hampered Indonesia's rescuers aft the quake acceptable disconnected a landslide that blocked streets and buried respective houses and motorists.

Power supplies and telephone communications person begun to amended successful the quake-hit areas connected Tuesday.

Many of the dormant were nationalist schoolhouse students who had finished their classes for the time and were taking other lessons astatine Islamic schools erstwhile the buildings collapsed, West Java Gov. Ridwan Kamil said arsenic helium announced the latest decease toll successful the remote, agrarian area.

Hospitals were overwhelmed by injured people, and the toll was expected to rise. No estimates were instantly disposable due to the fact that of the area's far-flung, agrarian population, but galore structures collapsed, and residents and exigency workers braced for grim news.

Operations were focused connected astir a twelve locations successful Cianjur, wherever radical are inactive believed trapped, said Endra Atmawidjaja, the Public Works and Housing spokesperson.

"We are racing with clip to rescue people," Atmawidjaja said, adding that 7 excavators and 10 ample trucks person been deployed from neighboring Bandung and Bogor cities to proceed clearing trees and soils that blocked roads linking Cianjur and Cipanas towns.

Cargo trucks carrying food, tents, blankets and different supplies from the capital, Jakarta, were arriving aboriginal Tuesday for organisation successful impermanent shelters. Still, thousands spent the nighttime successful the unfastened fearing aftershocks.

"Buildings were wholly flattened," said Dwi Sarmadi, who works for an Islamic acquisition instauration successful a neighboring district.

Roughly 175,000 radical unrecorded successful the municipality of Cianjur, portion of a mountainous territory of the aforesaid sanction with much than 2.5 cardinal people. Known for their piety, the radical of Cianjur unrecorded mostly successful towns of one- and two-story buildings and successful smaller homes successful the surrounding countryside.

Kamil said that much than 13,000 radical whose homes were heavy damaged were taken to evacuation centers.

Emergency workers treated the injured connected stretchers and blankets extracurricular hospitals, connected terraces and successful parking lots. The injured, including children, were fixed oxygen masks and IV lines. Some were resuscitated.

Hundreds of radical gathered extracurricular the Cianjur determination infirmary building, waiting for treatment

"I was moving wrong my bureau building. The gathering was not damaged, but arsenic the quake shook precise strongly, galore things fell. My limb was deed by dense stuff," Sarmadi said.

Sarmadi was waiting adjacent a structure extracurricular the infirmary aft immoderate overwhelmed clinics were incapable to spot him. Many radical were coming successful worse shape.

"I truly anticipation they tin grip maine soon," helium said.

Hasan, a operation idiosyncratic who, similar galore Indonesians, uses 1 name, is besides 1 of the survivors that is being taken to the hospital.

"I fainted. It was precise strong," said Hasan. "I saw my friends moving to flight from the building. But it was excessively precocious to get retired and I was deed by the wall."

The magnitude 5.6 quake was astatine a extent of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) beneath the Earth's surface, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It besides caused panic successful the greater Jakarta area, astir a 3 hour-drive away, wherever high-rises swayed and immoderate radical evacuated.

In galore homes successful Cianjur, chunks of factual and extortion tiles fell wrong bedrooms.

Shopkeeper Dewi Risma was moving with customers erstwhile the quake hit, and she ran for the exit.

"The vehicles connected the roadworthy stopped due to the fact that the quake was precise strong," she said. "I felt it shook 3 times, but the archetypal 1 was the strongest 1 for astir 10 seconds. The extortion of the store adjacent to the store I enactment successful had collapsed, and radical said 2 had been hit."

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency recorded astatine slightest 25 aftershocks.

The state of much than 270 cardinal radical is often struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to the fact that of its determination connected the arc of volcanoes and responsibility lines successful the Pacific Basin known arsenic the "Ring of Fire."

In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed astatine slightest 25 radical and injured much than 460 successful West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed much than 100 radical and injured astir 6,500 successful West Sulawesi province.

A almighty Indian Ocean quake and tsunami successful 2004 killed 230,000 radical successful a twelve countries, astir of them successful Indonesia.

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