At least 56 dead and 700 injured after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake

At least 56 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Java on Monday (November 21). The earthquake shook skyscrapers in the capital, Jakarta. According to the Governor of Java Province, 56 people were killed and more than 700 injured..

“Given the large number of people still stuck in their places, we estimate that the number of dead and injured will increase.”, he added. The head of the administration of the city of Cianjur, near which the epicenter is located, spoke on television of a continuous stream of victims.

The hospital is without electricity

According to him, Sayang Hospital no longer has access to electricity and doctors find themselves unable to perform surgeries on the victims. Residents transported the victims to hospital in pickup trucks and motorbikes, according to images obtained by AFP. The bodies of the dead were placed in front of the institution under a tarpaulin cover.

The epicenter was near Cianjur, about 100 kilometers south of Jakarta, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), which initially estimated the quake’s magnitude to be around 5.4. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage in Jakarta, but in the capital, people rushed out of buildings.