JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 46 people were killed and scores of structures were damaged as an earthquake struck Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, sending citizens onto the streets of the capital for protection.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles in the Cianjur district of West Java province.
“At the regional hospital in Cianjur, there are 46 dead and over 700 wounded. Suharyanto, the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, stated that several people were injured as a result of collapsing structures.
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On November 21, 2022, a hospital employee transports an earthquake sufferer on a gurney outside a hospital in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia.
AP
Following the earthquake on November 21, 2022 in Cianjur, Indonesia, municipal officers transport their injured colleague.
via REUTERS
Multiple landslides were recorded in the region of Cianjur. The organization reported that dozens of structures were destroyed, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital, and other public facilities.
According to a statement, information was still being gathered on the degree of injuries and damage.
The earthquake was significantly felt in the greater Jakarta region. The capital city’s tall buildings shook, and several were evacuated.
“The earthquake felt so intense. My coworkers and I decided to use the emergency stairs to exit our ninth-floor office,” said Vidi Primadhania, an employee in South Jakarta.
Infrequently are tremors felt in Jakarta, despite the frequency of quakes throughout the vast archipelago nation.
Because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” a ring of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin, the country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.
On November 21, 2022, workers inspect a store damaged by the earthquake in West Java, Indonesia.
AP
In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in West Sumatra province killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in West Sulawesi province killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500.
In 2004, a powerful earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, the majority of them in Indonesia.