Rescuers searched for survivors buried under rubble on Tuesday as relatives started to bury their loved ones after an earthquake on Indonesia's main island of Java killed 252 people.

As body bags emerged from crumpled buildings in Indonesia's most populous province, West Java, 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 of Cianjur where most of the victims were killed, hundreds were injured and dozens feared trapped as buildings collapsed and landslides were triggered.

The death toll jumped dramatically again later on Tuesday, from 162 to 252, a spokesman for the Cianjur administration said.

At a burial in a village near Cianjur, relatives of 48-year-old victim Husein, who was killed while building a house when the quake struck, broke into hysterical wails before his body was lowered into the ground.

"I just lost a brother 10 days ago. Now I've lost another brother," said his sister Siti Rohmah as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"I kept waiting, hoping he would survive and that nothing bad would happen to him."

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 find survivors.

"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 was 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".

"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 on Tuesday morning and said 31 people remain missing.

Many of those killed were children, according to the head of Indonesia's national rescue agency Basarnas.

"They were at school, at 1 pm, they were still studying," he told a press conference.

Some of those dead were students at an Islamic boarding school, while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls caved in on them.

- '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.

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.

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 that relentlessly shook Cianjur, a town of about 175,000 people.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday joined Canadian and French leaders 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.

'It's all ruined': Friends, relatives face Indonesia quake trauma
Cianjur, Indonesia (AFP) Nov 22, 2022 - Iwan Gunawan was forced to leave his gravely injured wife buried under rubble to run outside and save his daughter after a strong earthquake rocked Indonesia's largest province.

As he rushed to pull the girl from under debris, a wall fell on the fish trader leaving him unable to breathe.

"I kept chanting 'God save me'. I tried to protect my daughter and I tried to be strong," he said.

"I wanted to save my wife too, but if I insisted we all would have died."

The tremor that killed 252 people near the worst-hit town of Cianjur on Monday ripped families and friends from one another in a few seconds and forced people to make gut-wrenching decisions in the moment.

Roofs and walls caved in on locals without notice while landslides on the town's undulating hills wiped out vehicles and buried residents.

Standing in front of his destroyed home the next day, Gunawan wiped a tear from his eye as he recalled the death of his wife.

"It's all ruined," said the 41-year-old resident of Ciputri village in West Java.

Moments later two men brought his daughter on a stretcher and laid her down in front of the house next door. Gunawan rushed over to console her as she whimpered in pain.

"Dad is here now, don't cry," he told her, kissing her forehead.

- 'Still traumatised' -

Aprizal Mulyadi woke up on a normal Monday to study at his Islamic boarding school.

Hours later he was being pulled from the rubble and mourning a close friend who sacrificed his life to save him.

The 14-year-old's legs were trapped under concrete as the room collapsed around him.

Twelve-year-old Muhammad Zulfikar performed the ultimate act of friendship, pulling Mulyadi alive from the carnage. Then, as he went to help another friend, the roof fell in and buried him.

"I could not help him because my legs and back were injured. When he was trapped, he told me to go and save myself," he said, sitting on a tarpaulin behind the damaged school.

"I am still traumatised, I could not sleep because I kept thinking about what happened," he added, grabbing his ankle, which was still swollen and bleeding from the crush of debris.

- 'I am devastated' -

The rescue mission carried on into Tuesday to find those trapped by the disaster while residents tried to retrieve their pets and belongings.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the area and offered some compensation for those whose homes were destroyed.

Others offered prayers at funerals and burials around the town, choking back tears.

For some, none of that seemed to matter in comparison with the trauma.

Gunawan began to sob as he remembered the day before the quake, when his wife was cooking local staple cassava in the kitchen for the family.

"I am devastated. My house is destroyed and I lost my wife," he said, choking on tears.

"God please grant me strength."

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Strong quake rattles Solomon Islands
Honiara (AFP) Nov 22, 2022
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, swaying buildings, hurling items off shelves and briefly knocking out power in parts of the capital Honiara. There were no reports of serious injuries or major structural damage. "This was a big one," Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital, told AFP. "Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone seems OK, but panicky." At one recently built mall, chunks of cladding were shaken loose, crushi ... read more