Jakarta, September 05: Rescuers searched Saturday for 37 people missing in a landslide triggered by an earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Java island this week, but hopes of finding survivors were slim, an official said.
Sixty-five bodies were recovered after Wednesday’s magnitude-7.3 earthquake but the death toll was likely to rise, said Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Agency for Disaster Management.
“The search is continuing, but it’s unlikely to find survivors from the landslide,” Kardono said.
Rocks and earth slammed into houses in Cikangkareng village of Cianjur district, burying dozens of people, including children who were playing video games.
The Health Ministry said more than 600 people were injured in the quake.
More than 27,000 people have been displaced and 54,231 houses were damaged in West Java and one district in Central Java, according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The refugees were living in makeshift shelters near their ruined houses or with family, the UN agency said.
The government, aid groups and private donors have been providing relief in the affected areas, including tents and clothing, it said.
The UN office’s Indonesia chief, Ignacio Leon-Garcia, said Friday that the destruction caused by the quake was less than earlier feared.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government had enough resources to deal with the aftermath of the quake and did not yet need international assistance.
The quake also jolted the capital, Jakarta, shaking buildings and sending residents running out of their homes and high-rise office towers screaming in panic. A tsunami alert was issued but cancelled less than an hour later.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, sits on the so- called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because continental plates meet there.
—Agencies