The death toll from an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale that struck Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, on Monday has risen to 46, according to authorities, who said hundreds of people were injured in the quake.
The mayor of the city of Cianjur, Herman Suherman, stressed that «patients are still arriving», before adding that «most of them are from the northern region». The earthquake occurred at 13.21 hours (local time), with its epicenter ten kilometers south of the city of Cianjur, according to the Indonesian National Meteorological, Geophysical and Climatological Agency (BMKG).
It has also indicated that the earthquake has caused a power outage to more than 365,000 people in Cianjur, in West Java, before stressing that the authorities are working to try to «restore electricity quickly», as reported by the Indonesian television channel Kompas.
«We are working to restore electricity in Cianjur. Once it has been verified that there were no aftershocks, officials have moved on the ground to normalize the conditions of the power grid,» Suherman explained.
According to the information gathered by this TV channel, the large number of injured people has caused that some of the patients are being treated in the parking lot of the Cianjur hospital due to the lack of beds to treat all the victims.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said the quake has shaken the capital, with no reports of serious damage. «Stay calm, do not panic and evacuate through the designated routes,» it has recommended through its account on the social network Twitter. The BMKG has indicated that there is no risk of tsunami.
