22/11/2022
PRAY FOR INDONESIA π
Rescuers searched for bodies and survivors Tuesday in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 162 people on Indonesiaβs main island of Java and injured hundreds more, overwhelming hospitals.
Excavators, trucks and other heavy equipment sent overnight reached the hardest-hit city of Cianjur, south of Jakarta. The city, in the countryβs most densely populated province of West Java, was near the epicenter of magnitude 5.6 temblor Monday afternoon, which sent terrified residents fleeing into the streets, some covered in blood and debris.
One woman told The Associated Press when the earthquake hit her home in Cianjur, the building started βshaking like it was dancing.β
βI was crying and immediately grabbed my husband and children,β said the woman, who gave her name only as Partinem. The house collapsed shortly after she escaped with her family.
In addition to those killed, authorities reported more than 300 people were seriously hurt and at least 600 more suffered minor injuries. It was not immediately clear how many remain missing.
In the village of Cijedil, northwest of Cianjur, the quake triggered a landslide that blocked streets and buried several houses, and there were reports that 25 people were still buried, said Henri Alfiandi, the chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency.
Many of the dead were public school students who had finished their classes for the day and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools when the buildings collapsed, West Java Gov. Ridwan Kamil said.
The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). It also caused panic in the greater Jakarta area, about a three hour-drive away, where high-rises swayed and some people evacuated. | via Associated Press