CIANJUR (INDONESIA): The death toll of a earthquake on the main island of Java, Indonesia, rose to 268 on Tuesday as rescuers searched the rubble for survivors and relatives began to bury their loved ones.
As body bags emerged from collapsed buildings in Indonesia’s most populous province, West JavaRescue efforts turned to survivors still under debris in areas made difficult to access by the mass of obstacles thrown across the roads by the quake.
The epicenter of Monday’s 5.6 magnitude shallow quake was near the town of Cianjur where most of the victims were killed, hundreds were injured and dozens feared being trapped as buildings collapsed and landslides were triggered.
The death toll jumped again dramatically later on Tuesday, from 162 to 268, Suharyanto, the head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB, told a news conference.
At least 151 people are still missing and more than 1,000 have been injured, said the official, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.
“The focus is always on finding and evacuating victims. That’s the priority,” he said. “When the emergency response ends, I hope everyone has been found.”
At a funeral in a village near Cianjur, relatives of Husein, a 48-year-old victim who was killed while building a house when the quake hit, let out hysterical groans before his body was be lowered into the ground.
“I just lost a brother 10 days ago. Now I lost another brother,” said her sister Siti Rohmah, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I kept waiting, hoping he would survive and nothing bad would happen to him.”
One of dozens of rescuers, Dimas Reviansyah, 34, said teams were using chainsaws and diggers to break through piles of downed trees and debris to find survivors.
“I haven’t slept at all since yesterday, but I have to continue because there are victims who have not been found,” he said.
Drone footage taken by AFP showed the extent of an earthquake-triggered landslide where a wall of brown earth was only punctured by workers using heavy machinery to clear a road.
President Joko Widodo visited the area on Tuesday, offering compensation to victims and ordering relief and relief agencies to “mobilize their personnel”.
– ‘State of shock’ – Most of those killed were children, according to the head of Indonesia’s national relief agency Basarnas.
“They were at school, at 1 p.m. they were still studying,” Henri Alfiandi told a press conference.
Some of those dead were students at an Islamic boarding school, while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls collapsed.
Tuesday’s search operation was made more difficult by severed road links and temporary power outages in parts of the largely rural mountainous region.
Those who survived camped outside in near total darkness, surrounded by fallen debris, broken glass and chunks of concrete.
Doctors treated patients outside in makeshift wards after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta.
A father carried his dead son wrapped in white cloth through the streets of his village near Cianjur.
Others searched for missing loved ones amid the chaos.
Rahmi Leonita’s father was traveling by motorbike to Cianjur when the earthquake struck.
“Her phone is not active. I’m in shock now. I’m very worried but I still have hope,” the 38-year-old said, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.
– ‘Nothing I could save’ – In a shelter in the village of Ciherang near Cianjur, evacuees sat on tarpaulins stretched across the cold morning ground.
Nunung, a 37-year-old woman, pulled herself and her 12-year-old son from the rubble of their collapsed home.
“I had to free us by digging. There is nothing left, there is nothing I can save,” she told AFP from the shelter, her face covered in dried blood.
The devastation caused by the earthquake was compounded by a wave of 62 small aftershocks that relentlessly rocked Cianjur, a city of around 175,000 people.
The Geological Agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in an analysis posted online on Monday that the soil composition of the region could have exacerbated the impact of the quake.
He said the “undulating to steep hills” in the area were made up of “weathered” and “young” volcanic debris.
“These…deposits are generally soft, loose, unconsolidated and enhance the effects of shocks, making them prone to earthquakes,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Canadian and French leaders on Tuesday to offer their condolences.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island of Sulawesi in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.
As body bags emerged from collapsed buildings in Indonesia’s most populous province, West JavaRescue efforts turned to survivors still under debris in areas made difficult to access by the mass of obstacles thrown across the roads by the quake.
The epicenter of Monday’s 5.6 magnitude shallow quake was near the town of Cianjur where most of the victims were killed, hundreds were injured and dozens feared being trapped as buildings collapsed and landslides were triggered.
The death toll jumped again dramatically later on Tuesday, from 162 to 268, Suharyanto, the head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB, told a news conference.
At least 151 people are still missing and more than 1,000 have been injured, said the official, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.
“The focus is always on finding and evacuating victims. That’s the priority,” he said. “When the emergency response ends, I hope everyone has been found.”
At a funeral in a village near Cianjur, relatives of Husein, a 48-year-old victim who was killed while building a house when the quake hit, let out hysterical groans before his body was be lowered into the ground.
“I just lost a brother 10 days ago. Now I lost another brother,” said her sister Siti Rohmah, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I kept waiting, hoping he would survive and nothing bad would happen to him.”
One of dozens of rescuers, Dimas Reviansyah, 34, said teams were using chainsaws and diggers to break through piles of downed trees and debris to find survivors.
“I haven’t slept at all since yesterday, but I have to continue because there are victims who have not been found,” he said.
Drone footage taken by AFP showed the extent of an earthquake-triggered landslide where a wall of brown earth was only punctured by workers using heavy machinery to clear a road.
President Joko Widodo visited the area on Tuesday, offering compensation to victims and ordering relief and relief agencies to “mobilize their personnel”.
– ‘State of shock’ – Most of those killed were children, according to the head of Indonesia’s national relief agency Basarnas.
“They were at school, at 1 p.m. they were still studying,” Henri Alfiandi told a press conference.
Some of those dead were students at an Islamic boarding school, while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls collapsed.
Tuesday’s search operation was made more difficult by severed road links and temporary power outages in parts of the largely rural mountainous region.
Those who survived camped outside in near total darkness, surrounded by fallen debris, broken glass and chunks of concrete.
Doctors treated patients outside in makeshift wards after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta.
A father carried his dead son wrapped in white cloth through the streets of his village near Cianjur.
Others searched for missing loved ones amid the chaos.
Rahmi Leonita’s father was traveling by motorbike to Cianjur when the earthquake struck.
“Her phone is not active. I’m in shock now. I’m very worried but I still have hope,” the 38-year-old said, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.
– ‘Nothing I could save’ – In a shelter in the village of Ciherang near Cianjur, evacuees sat on tarpaulins stretched across the cold morning ground.
Nunung, a 37-year-old woman, pulled herself and her 12-year-old son from the rubble of their collapsed home.
“I had to free us by digging. There is nothing left, there is nothing I can save,” she told AFP from the shelter, her face covered in dried blood.
The devastation caused by the earthquake was compounded by a wave of 62 small aftershocks that relentlessly rocked Cianjur, a city of around 175,000 people.
The Geological Agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in an analysis posted online on Monday that the soil composition of the region could have exacerbated the impact of the quake.
He said the “undulating to steep hills” in the area were made up of “weathered” and “young” volcanic debris.
“These…deposits are generally soft, loose, unconsolidated and enhance the effects of shocks, making them prone to earthquakes,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Canadian and French leaders on Tuesday to offer their condolences.
Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island of Sulawesi in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.
