At least 268 dead, hundreds more injured and missing after earthquake hits Indonesia

Officials on the Indonesian island of Java have confirmed that an earthquake struck and killed at least 268 people, injuring hundreds more.

Regional governor Ridwan Kamil spoke about those injured and said “most of them sustained fractures from being crushed in ruins.”

Kamil warned that some residents remain trapped and believes that the “deaths will rise with time.” Kamil added that more than 13,000 people had been displaced by the disaster, and the BNPB said more than 2,200 homes had been damaged by the earthquake.

Herman Suherman, who is the head of administration in Cianjur town, said that most injuries were bone fractures sustained from people being trapped by debris in buildings.

“The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital,” Suhernan said, according to AFP. “There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated.”

BBC reported that the 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit Cianjur town in West Java, at a depth of 6 miles (10 km).

The impact was felt all the way in the capital Jakarta, which is about 100km away, where many residents were evacuated from high-rise buildings.

Office workers were quickly evacuated from civic and business district during the tremor, which started at 13:21 Western Indonesian time (WIT) on Monday, the agency confirmed.

Rescuers have had a hard time finding survivors due to the devastation.

“I was working when the floor under me was shaking. I could feel the tremor clearly. I tried to do nothing to process what it was, but it became even stronger and lasted for some time,” lawyer Mayadita Waluyo told AFP.

An office worker named Ahmad Ridwan told Reuters: “We are used to this [earthquakes] in Jakarta, but people were so nervous just now, so we also panicked.”