Earthquake in Indonesia - killed many people, destroyed houses and injured hundreds

   photo:Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi via REUTERS

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds in Indonesia's West Java province on Monday, with rescuers trying to reach survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks.

The epicentre was near the town of Cianjur in West Java, about 75 km (45 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, where some buildings shook and some offices were evacuated.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said 62 people had been killed. At least 25 people were trapped under collapsed buildings, it said.

According to BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari, the search would go on all night.

According to West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, "so many buildings fell and broke."

"There are locals trapped in remote locations, therefore we are assuming that the number of injuries and fatalities will increase over time."

The so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," where various plates of the Earth's crust collide and produce a great deal of earthquakes and volcanoes, crosses Indonesia.

More than 5,300 individuals had to be relocated, according to the BNPB, and more than 2,200 homes had been destroyed.

Herman Suherman, the head of Cianjur's government, stated that there was a power outage that was interfering with communications and that a landslide was preventing evacuations in one location.

In a hospital parking lot, hundreds of people were receiving care, some of them under an emergency tent. Residents in other parts of Cianjur huddled together on mats in open fields or in tents as the buildings surrounding them were nearly completely destroyed to rubble.

The quake, which occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km, is still being investigated by officials to establish the full extent of its devastation, according to the meteorological and geophysics department (BMKG).

Vani, who was receiving treatment in Cianjur's major hospital, told MetroTV that an aftershock caused the walls of her home to collapse.

"Walls and a wardrobe unexpectedly fell down... It was all flattened, and I have no idea where my parents are "She uttered.

In just two hours, 25 aftershocks were recorded by BMKG, and more landslides posed a risk in the event of heavy rain.

Some employees in Jakarta's central business district left their offices, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters; other witnesses reported hearing shaking and seeing furniture shift.

A 9.1 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra in 2004 triggered a tsunami that devastated 14 nations and killed 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline—more than half of them in Indonesia.