POWERFUL INDONESIA QUAKE KILLS 32, FLATTENS 1300 HOMES

Crowds of shoppers and office workers in the Indonesian capital Jakarta are evacuated outdoors after a 7.0 earthquake struck off Java island this afternoon, causing widespread panic and damage to buildings. At least 13 people in various areas have been reported killed.

JAKARTA, Sept 2 – A powerful earthquake rattled Indonesia’s main island of Java on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and forcing thousands to evacuate, the country’s disaster management agency said.

• The 7.0 magnitude quake, as recorded by the US Geological Survey, shook buildings in the capital Jakarta and flattened homes in villages closer to the epicentre in West Java.
• The health ministry said it was sending medical teams to Tasikmalaya near the epicentre of the quake in West Java.
• “Many houses are flattened to the ground,” said Edi Sapuan in Margamukti village, not far from Tasikmalaya. “Only the wooden houses remain standing. Many villagers are injured, covered in blood.”
• “We ran as soon as the quake hit. Then five minutes later my house collapsed,” Edi told Reuters.
• The quake was felt as far away as Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of Tasikmalaya, and on the resort island of Bali, about 700 kilometres to the east.
• At least 27 people were injured in Jakarta, a health ministry official said.
• Hundreds of people sheltered in a military base in Tasikmalaya, fearing that the initial powerful quake would be followed by aftershocks, an official at the disaster management agency said.
• Indonesia’s main power, oil and gas, steel, and mining companies with operations in West and Central Java island closest to the quake’s epicentre said they had not been affected and suffered no damage.
• Local tsunami warnings were issued for coastal areas within several hundred kilometres of the epicentre soon after it struck, but were withdrawn about half an hour later.
• Indonesia’s seismology agency put the magnitude at 7.3 with the epicentre 142 km (88 miles) southwest of Tasikmalaya. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a widespread tsunami.

Source: Reuters