Indonesia quake death toll at 46, likely to rise

HONDURAS: Indonesian villagers searched frantically on Thursday for people buried under collapsed buildings, after a powerful quake killed at least 46 and damaged thousands of homes in the hills of West Java.

Wednesday?s 7.0 magnitude earthquake sent terrified residents rushing out onto 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 130 km (80 miles) 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. Reuters reporters saw many damaged houses as well as tents and makeshift shelters on streets and in fields.

In Cikangkareng village, South Cianjur district, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Jakarta, the quake triggered a landslide, sending rocks cascading onto much of the village, including a mosque, a Reuters 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. At least 46 people were killed in West Java, and more than 18,000 houses as well as offices, mosques and other buildings were damaged, said Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Forty-two people were listed as missing in landslides. Kardono said the toll could ?change significantly? given the scale of damage.

Plangalengan, Indonesia, Thursday, Reuters