An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 has shaken this Monday West Java, the most populous province of Indonesia, the most populous in the country, with almost 50 million inhabitants, leaving 55 dead and 700 injured so far, in addition to significant damage to residences. and infrastructures.
The Indonesian National Meteorological, Geophysical and Climatological Agency has indicated that the earthquake occurred at 1:21 p.m., with its epicenter ten kilometers south of the city of Cianjur. "Watch out for the possibility of aftershocks," alerts the agency before specifying that there is no risk of a tsunami.
As confirmed to EFE by the Cianjur government spokesman, four people died at the Cimacan hospital and 51 at the Sayang hospital in that town. Speaking to local media, Cianjur's administrative chief, Herman Suherman, said the tremors have injured around 700 people. "Victims continue to arrive from many areas. About 700 people were injured," Suherman told Kompas TV.
He added that, due to the devastation caused by the earthquake, many roads and highways in the region are closed and some power distribution stations were affected, causing power outages in several towns.
In videos released by local authorities, it is possible to see dozens of people, some unconscious, receiving medical care and being taken by ambulance to health centers in the region. The quake also caused damage to various homes and infrastructure around the city, which is located about 75 kilometers from Jakarta, where residents felt the tremors.
According to the accounts published on the networks, the catastrophe has caused people on stretchers in a hospital in the region to receive medical assistance on the capital's own street, in addition to multiple buildings being evicted for fear of a possible collapse.
For its part, the United States Geological Survey estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 5.4 and the National Disaster Management Agency has indicated that the earthquake has shaken the capital, with no reports of serious damage. "Keep calm, do not panic and evacuate through the designated routes," he recommended through his account on the social network Twitter.
Indonesia, with some 275 million inhabitants, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity in which some 7,000 earthquakes are recorded each year, most of them moderate.
