Rescuers continue their search for victims as international leaders express their sorrow over the loss of 162 lives.

A day after an Indonesian town in West Java was shaken by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6, rescuers are still looking for casualties who may be buried beneath the debris. The earthquake lasted for several-seconds and  caused more than 700 people to sustain injuries, and 162 people lost their lives. ‘The death toll may rise,’ informed the authorities.

 

The meteorology and geophysics service (BMKG) reported that the earthquake on Monday impacted Cianjur, which is located approximately 75 kilometres southeast of Jakarta, at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), adding that there was no threat of a tsunami.

 

In a mountainous area of the most populous province of Indonesia, the shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake’s epicentre was found on terrain close to Cianjur. The tremor on Monday afternoon caused buildings to collapse, sending panicked locals fleeing into the streets.

 

Overnight, wounded survivors flooded the hospital in Cianjur’s parking lot where some were treated in makeshift tents and others were hooked up to intravenous drips on the ground while medical staff stitched up patients under the light of torches.

 

From the busy hospital parking lot, Cucu, a 48-year-old local, told Reuters that ‘everything fell beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child.’