Jakarta, Sep 3 (DPA) At least 44 people were killed in a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake that devastated the western part of Indonesia’s Java island, state media reported early Thursday.
The quake was felt strongly in the capital Jakarta Wednesday, shaking buildings and sending residents running out of their homes and high-rise office towers screaming in panic. A tsunami alert was issued but cancelled about less than an hour later.
“Based on the information I have received, the death toll stands at 44,” West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency.
There were fears that the death toll could rise as communication was restored to remote areas where electricity and telephone lines had been cut.
Heryawan said rescue teams including the military and police had been dispatched to affected areas to provide emergency relief and save lives.
Officials said more than 1,000 homes were damaged and more than 5,000 people were displaced in the hardest-hit areas.
The quake triggered a landslide that buried at least 57 people in Cianjur district, where 12 people were found dead, rescue officials said late Wednesday.
Officials said at least one person was killed and 27 injured in Jakarta, where the tremor cracked some buildings and shattered windows.
The quake struck at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday with its epicentre 142 km southwest of Bandung, the capital of West Java. It was felt in areas as far as the resort island of Bali.
The US Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 7.0.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because continental plates meet there.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the southern coast of west Java in July 2006, killing more than 600 people and leaving tens of thousands of others homeless.
A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia’s Aceh province and half a million people homeless.
