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Hunt for buried survivors after Cianjur quake
Rescuers searched on Tuesday for survivors buried under rubble after a strong earthquake on Cianjur regency, West Java, killed 162 people, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in collapsed building.
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A villager looks at damaged houses following a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 162 people, with hundreds injured and others missing in Cianjur, West Java, on Nov. 22, 2022. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
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escuers searched on Tuesday for survivors buried under rubble after a strong earthquake on Cianjur regency, West Java, killed 162 people, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in collapsed buildings.
The epicenter of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake on Monday was near Cianjur, where most of the victims were killed when buildings fell and landslides were triggered.
The search operation was made more challenging because of severed road links and power supply in parts of the largely rural, mountainous region.
On Tuesday, dozens of rescuers used heavy machinery in Cugenang village to try and clear the road to Cianjur, which was cut off by a landslide.
As the body bags emerged from crumpled buildings, the focus turned to the missing and any survivors under the debris.
The National disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said at least 25 people were still buried under the rubble in Cianjur as darkness fell on Monday.
Those who survived camped outside in near-total darkness surrounded by fallen debris, shattered glass and big chunks of concrete.
The disaster mitigation agency said more than 2,000 houses were damaged and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said more than 13,000 people were taken to evacuation centres.
Doctors treated patients outdoors at makeshift treatment wards after the quake, which was felt as far away as Jakarta – about 150 kilometers northwest.
Grieving relatives waited for authorities to release bodies from morgues to bury their loved ones in accordance with their Islamic faith while others searched for their missing relatives in the chaos.
The devastation caused by the quake was made worse by a wave of 62 smaller aftershocks – with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 4 – that kept shaking Cianjur, a regency of about 175,000 people.
Leaders from France and Canada offered their condolences on Monday evening but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is yet to respond.
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 quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.
