JAKARTA: A 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday has left up to 20 people dead, a local official said. According to Herman Suherman, a government representative from Cianjur, the West Javan town where the earthquake’s epicentre was located, up to 20 people may have died and 300 more may have been hurt. He added that there were four hospitals in Cianjur and that the number of fatalities and injuries would increase.
According to the national disaster agency, 14 people died.The meteorology and geophysics service (BMKG) reported that the earthquake on Monday impacted Cianjur, which is located approximately 75 kilometres southeast of Jakarta, at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), adding that there was no threat of a tsunami. As officials continued to determine the entire extent of the damage, the national disaster service stated in a statement that many residences and an Islamic boarding school in the region had been damaged.
Images showed some Cianjur buildings nearly completely reduced to rubble with terrified locals huddling outside. Muchlis, who was in Cianjur when the earthquake struck, reported feeling “a massive shaking” and discovering damage to the walls and ceiling of his office building.
“I was utterly stunned. I was concerned that another quake would occur “Muchlis stated, adding that when people fled their homes, some fell ill and puked.25 aftershocks had been noted in the two hours following the earthquake, according to BMKG. Some people in Jakarta’s central business district evacuated their offices, while others reported feeling the buildings tremble and seeing furniture shuffle.
