A 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook Indonesia’s West Java region on Monday claimed over 20 lives, according to a local official.
Herman Suherman, a government representative from Cianjur, the West Javan town where the earthquake’s epicentre was located, told news outlet MetroTV that up to 20 people had perished and 300 more had been injured, according to Reuters.
Several homes and an Islamic boarding school in the area had been damaged, according to a statement from the national disaster agency, according to Reuters. Officials are still determining the full extent of the damage.
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 so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where various plates of the earth’s crust collide and produce a great deal of earthquakes and volcanoes, crosses Indonesia.
#Indonesia – Nearly 20 people have been killed and at least 300 injured in an earthquake that rattled Indonesia's main island of Java, local official tells the media. AFP pic.twitter.com/Ud54oiqWld #earthquake #Gempa
— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) November 21, 2022
In Cianjur, footage from Metro TV showed some buildings nearly completely destroyed to rubble with terrified locals huddling outside.
25 aftershocks had been noted in the two hours following the earthquake, according to BMKG.
Some employees in Jakarta’s central business district escaped their workplaces, while others said they felt the buildings tremble and saw furniture shift, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters.
