M5.6 Earthquake Hits Cianjur, Java, Indonesia – Nov. 21, 2022 [Part 2]

At least 271 people have died since a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, while dozens of others remain missing, according to Indonesian authorities.

The death toll has continued to rise in the days since the disaster hit, as thousands of rescuers search for the dead and missing.

Lt. Gen. Suharyanto, head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), confirmed the latest casualty figures during a press conference on Wednesday evening. He told reporters that the 271 fatalities were confirmed by hospitals and community health centers in West Java’s Cianjur Regency.

The actual toll could be even higher if families took it upon themselves to bury their dead without alerting authorities.

About 37% of the 271 confirmed deaths were children, according to Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

“So there are indeed a lot of children,” Suharyanto told reporters. “But if looked at it as a whole, there are still a lot [of deaths] outside of children.”

Meanwhile, the number of injured has risen to 2,043 and 40 others are still missing or unaccounted for, mostly in Cugenang district in hard-hit Cianjur Regency, according to Suharyanto. He said rescuers found a 6-year-old boy alive in the rubble beside his dead grandmother on Wednesday.

Monday’s quake damaged at least 56,320 homes, displacing 61,908 people. Damages were also reported at 31 schools, 124 places of worship and three health facilities, according to Suharyanto.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/deadly-earthquake-strikes-java-indonesia/story?id=93705350

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