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 By Dessy SAGITA Cianjur, Indonesia (AFP) Nov 22, 2022
Rescuers searched for survivors buried under rubble on Tuesday after an earthquake on Indonesia's main island of Java killed 162 people, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in collapsed buildings. As bodybags emerged from crumpled buildings in Indonesia's most populous province, rescue efforts turned to any survivors still under debris in areas made hard to reach by the mass of obstacles thrown onto the roads by the quake. The epicentre of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake on Monday was near the town Cianjur in West Java where most of the victims were killed as buildings collapsed and landslides were triggered. One of the dozens of rescuers, 34-year-old Dimas Reviansyah, said teams were using chainsaws and excavators to break through piles of felled trees and debris to reach areas where civilians were believed trapped. "I haven't slept at all since yesterday, but I must keep going because there are victims who have not been found," he said. Drone footage taken by AFP showed the extent of a quake-triggered landslide where a wall of brown earth is only punctuated by workers using heavy machinery to clear a road. President Joko Widodo visited the area on Tuesday, offering compensation for victims and ordering disaster and rescue agencies to "mobilise their personnel" to prioritise the evacuation of victims. "On behalf of myself, on behalf of the government, I would like to express my deepest condolences," he said. Indonesia's national disaster mitigation agency, or BNPB, said at least 25 people were still buried under the rubble in Cianjur as darkness fell Monday. "There's a possibility there are still more victims," Rudy Saladin, a local military chief, told AFP. The BNPB offered a lower death toll of 103 as of Tuesday morning and said 31 people remain missing. Some of the dead were students at an Islamic boarding school while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls caved in on them. "The room collapsed and my legs were buried under the rubble. It all happened so fast," 14-year-old student Aprizal Mulyadi told AFP. - 'State of shock' - The search operation on Tuesday was made more challenging because of severed road links and power outages in parts of the largely rural, mountainous region. By Tuesday morning, 89 percent of power to Cianjur had been recovered by state-owned electricity company PLN, according to state news agency Antara. Kamil said more than 300 people had been injured and over 13,000 taken to evacuation centres. Those who survived camped outside in near-total darkness surrounded by fallen debris, shattered glass and chunks of concrete. Doctors treated patients outdoors at makeshift wards after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta. Grieving relatives waited for authorities to release bodies from morgues to bury their loved ones in accordance with their Islamic faith. One father carried his dead son wrapped in white cloth through the streets of his village near Cianjur. Others searched for their missing relatives in the chaos. Rahmi Leonita's father was riding a motorbike to Cianjur when the quake struck. "His phone is not active. I am in a state of shock now. I am very worried but I am still hopeful," said the 38-year-old, tears falling down her face as she spoke. - 'Nothing I could save' - At a shelter in Ciherang village near Cianjur, evacuees sat on tarpaulins stretched over the cold morning ground. Babies and children slept while their exhausted mothers kept watch. Nunung, a 37-year-old woman who like many Indonesians goes by one name, had pulled herself and her 12-year-old son out of the rubble of their collapsed home. "I had to free ourselves by digging. Nothing is left, there is nothing I could save," she told AFP from the shelter, her face covered in dried blood. The devastation caused by the quake was made worse by a wave of 62 smaller aftershocks -- with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 4 -- that relentlessly shook Cianjur, a town of about 175,000 people. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday joined Canadian and French leaders Tuesday in offering their condolences. Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.
Shallow quake kills 162, injures hundreds on Indonesia's Java island Doctors treated patients outdoors after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta, left hospitals in the West Java town of Cianjur without power for several hours. "I regret to inform that 162 are dead. 326 are injured with most of them sustained fractures from being crushed in ruins," Ridwan Kamil, governor of worst-hit province West Java, told a press conference in a video seen by AFP. He said most of the victims were children. Adam, spokesman for the local administration in Cianjur town, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, confirmed the toll to AFP. Indonesia's national disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, still lists the toll at 62. Due to miscounting, officials offered wildly fluctuating death tolls after an Indonesian stadium disaster last month. The BNPB said 25 people remained trapped under the rubble as the rescue mission stretched into the night. The agency said more than 2,000 houses were damaged and Kamil said more than 13,000 people were taken to evacuation centres. "You can see it yourself, some got their heads, feet sewn outdoors. Some got stressed and started crying," Kamil said. Kamil said power had been partially restored by the evening, without specifying if that meant by generators or connection to a power grid. The afternoon quake was centred in the Cianjur region and local authorities earlier said as many as 700 had been wounded, warning the death toll could rise further. "Because there are still a lot of people trapped on the scene, we assume injuries and fatalities will increase over time," Kamil said as ambulance sirens blared in the background. Agus Azhari, 19, was with his elderly mother in the family home when their living room was destroyed within seconds, parts of the walls and roof collapsing around them. "I pulled my mother's hand, and we ran outside," he said. "I heard people screaming for help from all around me," Azhari told AFP. The majority of deaths were counted in one hospital, the head of Cianjur's local administration Herman Suherman said, with most of the victims killed in the ruins of collapsed buildings. He told Indonesian media the town's Sayang hospital had no power after the quake, leaving doctors unable to operate on victims immediately. More health workers were urgently needed due to the overwhelming number of patients, he said. Locals rushed victims to the hospital in pickup trucks and on motorbikes, according to footage obtained by AFP. - 'Emergency state' - They were placed in front of the facility as residents spread a tarpaulin on the road for the bodies. At another facility, Cimacan hospital, green tents were erected outside for makeshift treatment, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. Victims arrived covered in blood, while parents looked for their children. Kamil, the governor, said multiple landslides had cut off road access to some areas and bulldozers were being used to reopen them. Shops, a hospital and an Islamic boarding school in the town were severely damaged, according to Indonesian media. Collapsed buildings and debris lined the streets in Cianjur. The town is situated in a hilly area where many houses are built with a mixture of mud and concrete. "The ambulances keep on coming," Suherman said. "There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated." Cianjur police chief Doni Hermawan told Metro TV authorities had rescued a woman and a baby from a landslide but a third person they found had died of their injuries. - Jakarta rattled - French President Emmanuel Macron was the first world leader to offer his condolences. "Indonesia was hit this morning by an earthquake of destructive and deadly force. Thoughts for all the victims," he wrote. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent condolences and said Ottawa "stands ready to help in any way". Indonesian President Joko Widodo is yet to respond to the quake. Indonesia's meteorological agency said it recorded 62 aftershocks in Cianjur after the quake, with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 4. There were no reports of casualties or major damage in Jakarta, a three-hour drive away. Mayadita Waluyo, a 22-year-old lawyer, described how panicked workers ran to building exits in Jakarta as the quake struck. "I was working when the floor under me was shaking. I could feel the tremor clearly," she said. Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.
'I was crushed': Fear and panic grip Indonesian town battered by quake Agus Azhari, 19, was with his mother in their family home when the living room was destroyed within seconds by the quake that was centred on West Java's Cianjur, the worst-hit town. Parts of the walls and roof fell to the floor, along with cupboards and other debris that hit his legs and hands. "I couldn't see anything. The dust from the debris blocked my sight for a while," Azhari told AFP. He said he had never experienced an earthquake like it before. The Indonesian teen shared a video in which his 56-year-old mother screams, "Lord have mercy! My house!" as their home shook. "I pulled my mother's hand and we ran outside," he said. "I heard people screaming for help from all around me." The shallow tremor, with a magnitude of 5.6, brought down the roofs and walls of homes built on the town's hilly landscape. Many were made more vulnerable by the use of wood, mud and concrete in their construction. Emergency workers raced to treat victims in any outdoor space possible, with the town's three hospitals overwhelmed and not enough rooms to cope with an injury toll of 700. At least 25 people were still trapped in the rubble, authorities said. Residents rushed lifeless bodies to Cianjur's Sayang hospital in pickup trucks and on motorbikes. Power outages meant doctors were unable to operate immediately. Some of the injured sat on stretchers or blankets with their heads and limbs bandaged. Elderly women sat in wheelchairs waiting to be treated as crowds of worried bystanders looked on. - 'I could do nothing' - At another hospital, Cimacan, victims arrived covered in blood while parents looked for missing children. Several injured elderly women were taken on stretchers into makeshift green tents erected outside the hospital. People ran to resuscitate victims in the immediate aftermath of the quake, while others fled their homes for safety. Dozens of aftershocks shook the town for minutes that, for rattled locals, seemed like hours. The province's governor said some of the injured needed their heads and feet stitched back together from wounds sustained by the debris falling around them. Landslides around the town buried bodies, and bulldozers were mobilised to reopen roads. A woman and a baby were pulled alive from the rubble, while others lost their lives nearby. Oman, a 55-year-old who, like most Indonesians goes by one name, was making fried rice in a village near Cianjur when his house started to sway. "All of a sudden I was crushed beneath it. I could do nothing in the rubble. My wife was outside at the time," he said. His feet, legs and hands were squeezed in the ruins but his son arrived to pull him free, emerging with only a broken leg and a bloodied body. "I did not know where to go but at least I am alive," Oman said. The search for survivors was set to last well into the night as survivors reckoned with the carnage of lost homes and relatives. "My mother looked at her house and she cried," Azhari said.
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