Indonesia’s Jokowi orders emergency response after strong quake hits Java
- A magnitude 6 quake rocked Indonesia’s Java island, killing at least eight people, including a woman on a motorcycle who was hit by falling rocks
- This was the second disaster to hit Indonesia in a week, after Tropical Cyclone Seroja caused a downpour that killed over 170 and left dozens missing
Saturday’s quake caused falling rocks to kill a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java’s Lumajang district, officials said. It damaged more than 1,300 buildings.
“I have ordered … immediate emergency response to search and find victims under the rubble and to treat the wounded,” the president, known by his popular name Jokowi, said in broadcast remarks.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2pm on Saturday. It was centred 45km (28 miles) south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82km (51 miles).
Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami centre, said the undersea tremblor did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.
Two shelters for the displaced have been set up in the town of Lumajang.
All of the casualties were reported in 15 districts and cities in East Java, the closest province to the epicentre of the quake, which struck in the Indian Ocean.
Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said about 1,189 homes and 150 public facilities, including schools, hospitals and government offices, were damaged. Rescuers retrieved four bodies from the rubble in Lumajang’s Kali Uling village. Three people were also confirmed killed by the quake in Malang district.
Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.
This was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia in a week, after Tropical Cyclone Seroja caused a severe downpour last Sunday that killed at least 174 people and left 48 still missing in East Nusa Tenggara province.
Some victims were buried in either mudslides or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November, while others were swept away by flash floods. Thousands of homes with damaged.
Indonesia deploys helicopters in search for survivors buried in landslides
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500, while more than 92,000 were displaced, after striking Mamuju and Majene districts in West Sulawesi province.
Additional reporting by Reuters
