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2022.11.25 18:23 GMT+8

Death toll from Indonesia's quake rises to 318

Updated 2022.11.26 18:23 GMT+8
CGTN

Residents are seen in front of their damaged houses at Mangunkerta Village in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, November 24, 2022. /Xinhua

At least 318 people were killed after a magnitude-5.6 earthquake hit Indonesia's West Java Province on Monday, the local rescue authorities said on Saturday.

The head of the country's national disaster management agency Suharyanto said that a risk assessment is underway, and that aid would be continuously distributed to the survivors in evacuation centers across the district of Cianjur, one of the hardest-hit areas. 

The earthquake displaced 62,545 residents in Cianjur and a total of 14 evacuation centers have been established, according to Xinhua News Agency. 

Food, medicine and other necessities needed by the survivors have been continuously distributed to the affected area. But rain, small roads and the remote location of the quake-affected areas have hampered the search and rescue operation, Suharyanto said on Thursday. 

Suharyanto said a total of 363 school buildings, 144 religious buildings, 16 office buildings and three health facilities were destroyed by the earthquake.

On Thursday, the agency reported that the quake destroyed 56,311 houses and displaced 62,545 residents in Cianjur, an agricultural region famed for its rice. About a third of those killed were children who had been trapped in houses or schools that crumbled.

In its neighboring district Sukabumi, more than 20,000 houses were damaged, and over 160,000 people were displaced by the quake, according to media reports. The districts hit by the quake are home to about 5.2 million people.

Indonesia sits at the meeting point of several tectonic plates, meaning the country is one of the most active seismic regions in the world.

(With input from agencies)

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