Deadly magnitude-5.6 earthquake hits Indonesia

A magnitude-5.6 earthquake in Indonesia’s West Java province has killed more than 50 people and left hundreds injured as authorities work to determine the full extent of the damage.

Key points:
Monday’s earthquake hit Cianjur, about 75 km south-east of Jakarta
Footage shows buildings reduced almost entirely to rubble as residents huddled
Some 25 aftershocks were recorded in the two hours after the quake
Warning: This story contains graphic imagery which may distress some readers.

Governor Ridwan Kamil confirmed 56 people had died from the quake, which struck Cianjur in West Java, some 75 km south-east of the capital, Jakarta.

Indonesia’s national disaster agency said up to 700 people had been injured, and more than 300 homes damaged or destroyed.

It said several homes and an Islamic boarding school in the area had been damaged, as officials continued to assess the full extent of the damage.

Hasan, a construction worker being treated at the Cianjur Regional Hospital said the quake was “very strong” and caused him to faint.

“I saw my friends running to escape from the building,” he said. “But I was too late to get out and was hit by the wall.”

A collapsed school
Monday’s earthquake caused buildings to collapse, including at a school in Cianjur. (Reuters: Iman Firmansyah )
Footage from Metro TV showed some buildings in Cianjur reduced almost entirely to rubble as worried residents huddled outside.

Local official Herman Suherman said people in the area of Cugenang were unable to be evacuated because of a landslide blocking access.

People stand around as a man pulls a person covered by foam padding, lying on a red gurney.
A hospital worker carries an earthquake victim on a gurney outside a hospital in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia.(AP: Firman Taqur)
Muchlis, who was in Cianjur when the quake hit, said he felt “a huge tremor” and the walls and ceiling of his office building were damaged.

“I was very shocked. I worried there would be another quake,” he told Metro TV.

The earthwake caused a wall to colapse, showing the inside of a classroom.
A classroom damaged by the 5.6-magnitude earthquake. (Reuters: Iman Firmansyah)
He said people ran out of their houses, some fainting and vomiting in response.

The earthquake struck at a depth of 10km, according to Indonesia’s weather, climatology and geophysics council BMKG.

Officials surround a person outide a damaged building.
Municipality officers evacuate an injured colleague following the earthquake. (Antara Foto: Regional Disasters Mitigation Agency (BPBD) via REUTERS )
In the two hours after the quake, 25 aftershocks were recorded, BMKG said.

In Jakarta some people evacuated offices in the central business district, while others reported feeling buildings shake and seeing furniture move, witnesses told Reuters.

Reuters/ AP