By Edna Tarigan -
The Associated Press
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's main island, Java, on Monday, killing at least 46 people and injuring 700, and damaging dozens of buildings, authorities said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake occurred in the Cianjur region of West Java province, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of the capital Jakarta, and it had a depth of only about 6 miles (10 kilometers).
A group of people injured by the earthquake are treated in the parking lot of a hospital in Cianjur, on November 21, 2022 in Java, Indonesia. Firman Taqur / AP
"There are 46 dead in the Cianjur regional hospital and about 700 injured. Many were injured because they were hit by collapsed buildings," said the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, Suharyanto.
The tectonic movement caused several landslides in the surroundings of Cianjur.
Dozens of buildings were affected, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities, the national agency said.
The Indonesian authorities explained in a statement that they continue to collect information on the number of victims and the extent of damage.
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The quake was strongly felt in the capital area.
Skyscrapers wobbled, some of which had to be evacuated, and thousands of people poured into the streets seeking safety in case of aftershocks.
“The earthquake felt very strong.
My colleagues and I decided to leave our office on the ninth floor using the emergency stairs,” explained Vidi Primadhania, who works in South Jakarta.
Officials inspect one of the buildings damaged by in Cianjur, Indonesia, after the earthquake registered on November 21, 2022. Firman Taqur / AP
This country of more than 270 million people is frequently affected by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis due to its location on the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific basin.
In February, a magnitude 6.2 quake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province.
In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.
In 2004, a powerful earthquake followed by a tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries in the region, most of them in Indonesia.