PANGALENGAN, Indonesia – Indonesian villagers searched frantically yesterday for people buried under collapsed buildings after a powerful quake killed at least 57 and damaged thousands of homes in the hills of West Java.
Wednesday’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake sent terrified residents rushing out on to the streets of the capital Jakarta, and in towns and villages closer to the epicentre in West Java.
Government agencies said the death toll was likely to rise, as some affected coastal areas remained out of contact.
Indonesia’s main power, oil and gas, steel, and mining companies with operations in West and Central Java island closest to the quake’s epicentre said they had suffered no damage.
In Pangalengan, about 130km southeast of Jakarta, Titin buried her two-year-old son, who was killed when he was hit on the head by falling rubble. “He was just playing outside, he was just a boy,” she sobbed, supported by friends who said her other son was in a coma in hospital.
With so many houses damaged or flattened, people in the area are camping outside, still traumatised and scared of aftershocks.
In Cikangkareng village, South Cianjur district, about 100km south of Jakarta, the quake triggered a landslide, sending rocks cascading onto much of the village, including a mosque, a witness said.
“Many of our young were buried by the landslide. We need food, we don’t have food,” said villager Rohim. “I’m here because I’m afraid of possible aftershocks,” said Kakom, a 65-year-old woman at an evacuation site.
Forty-two people were listed as missing in landslides, said Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency. He said the toll could “change significantly” given the scale of damage.
“We’ve said to the Indonesian authorities we will work with them in terms of any assistance that we can provide,” Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd said.
Yukio Hatoyama, Japan’s next prime minister after his Democratic Party of Japan’s landslide election victory, said his government would provide help “regardless of any request”. “We need to make sure there are no delays in providing aid that we would normally be able to provide because of a policy vacuum.” – (Reuters)