Indonesia Quake: Death Toll Rises to 268, President Widodo Visits Quake-hit Cianjur, PICs

Nov 22, 2022, 17:47 IST

Java Island: The death toll from the deadly earthquake that shook Java island of Indonesia on Monday rose to 268 and many of the killed and injured were children. 151 people are still missing, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on Tuesday. The children were in school when the quake rattled the buildings and the concrete structures collapsed.

The head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Suharyanto told reporters that 1,083 people were injured in the earthquake. Among them, 300 people were seriously hurt and at least 600 more suffered minor injuries. The major earthquake that hit the city of Cianjur on Monday afternoon was of 5.6 magnitude on the Richter scale. The quake struck a depth of 10 kilometres.

An Indonesian woman named Partinem told The Associated Press that when the earthquake hit, her home in Cianjur started “shaking like it was dancing.” According to the chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency, the quake triggered a landslide in the Cijedil village which resulted in blocked streets and buried several houses.

The rescue operations were being hampered due to damaged roads and bridges and disruption of power supply. Authorities believe people are still trapped in about a dozen locations in Cianjur. The rescue teams are still pulling up the bodies from the debris on Tuesday morning.

According to estimates, 1,75,000 people live in Cianjur. West Java Gov. Ridwan Kamil said more than 13,000 people were shifted to evacuation centres after their houses were either flattened or heavily damaged in the earthquake.

Pray for cianjur 😭 #Gempa pic.twitter.com/HGGnjZma4I

— Ly (@daimalfad) November 21, 2022

President Joko Widodo on Tuesday visited Cianjur and expressed his condolences to the affected people. He also visited the survivors in shelters and pledged to rebuild infrastructure, including the main bridge connecting Cianjur to other cities. Widodo also said his government will provide monetary assistance up to 50 million rupiah ($3,180) to each resident whose house was damaged in the quake.

“On behalf of myself and on behalf of the government, I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims and their families in this Cianjur earthquake,” President Joko Widodo said.

Mengunjungi tenda-tenda pengungsi korban gempa bumi di Taman Prawatasari, Cianjur.

Pemerintah akan membantu warga yang rumahnya rusak akibat gempa bumi, dengan nilai bantuan sesuai tingkat kerusakan rumah. pic.twitter.com/esouFUE0O9

— Joko Widodo (@jokowi) November 22, 2022