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Thu, Mar

5.6-magnitude Earthquake kills Dozens In Indonesia

Middle East & Asia News
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A 5.6-magnitude earthquake that hit Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday at 1;21 p.m. have killed many people local officials revealed. Disaster management officials in Cianjur regency, near the epicenter of the quake, put out a statement announcing that dozens people had died and hundreds more were injured in the disaster, believed to be the deadliest this year in Indonesia, an earthquake-prone country. This marked a significant jump from figures released earlier in the day and reflected ongoing efforts to unearth victims from the rubble. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.6. quake was at a depth of 10 kilometres.


“There are 46 dead people at the Cianjur regional hospital and around 700 injured people. Many were hurt because they were hit by collapsed buildings,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said.

It was further revealed that electricity went down, communication efforts were also disrupted. People in the area of Cugenang were unable to be evacuated because of a landslide blocking access.

Officials also revealed that over 2,200 houses have been damaged, with approximately 13,000 people displaced.

According to the agency information was still being collected about the extent of casualties and damage experienced.

The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.

Also in 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra Island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline, more than half of them in Indonesia.

 

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