Earthquake Hits Indonesia Causing Widespread Deaths And Injuries

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured, and scores more displaced, after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Indonesia's main island on Monday.  At least 162 were killed and 700 hurt after a shallow tremor hit West Java near the town of Cianjur, around 45 miles south of the capital Sumur bor jakarta, at 1.21pm local time. The quake triggered a landslide and collapsed buildings in hard-hit Cianjur - where most of the deaths were reported - but also shook tower blocks in Jakarta for three terrifying minutes as people rushed on to the streets.  More than 2,000 houses were damaged and 13,000 people have been displaced and taken to evacuation centres as a result, according to local authorities.

Shallow quakes tend to be more destructive than deeper earthquakes because deeper quakes travel further to the surface, losing energy along the way. 'I regret to inform that 162 are dead,' West Java governor Ridwan Kamil said in a video. Adam, the spokesman for the local administration in Cianjur town in West Java, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, confirmed the toll to AFP. People wounded in an earthquake that struck near the town of Cianjur, in Indonesia, receive treatment in the car park of a local hospital after the ward was overwhelmed Civilians wounded by the earthquake that struck Cinajur, a town on Indonesia's main island sumur bor tangerang of West Java, lay on stretchers outside a local hospital as they are treated by medics A young girl (left) is among those injured by an earthquake which struck Indonesia near the town of Cianjur on Monday, causing dozens of deaths Rescuers carry an injured toddler through the streets of Cianjur after the earthquake Medical workers carry the body of a boy killed in the Indonesian earthquake under a sheet Patients with fractured legs and other injuries lie in the car park of a hospital in Indonesia after an earthquake hit near the town of Cianjur on Monday afternoon The remains of a building flattened in the earthquake which struck the island of West Java are seen in the town of Cianjur The shallow quake - of magnitude 5.6 - caused buildings to collapse (damaged shop pictured) and triggered a landslide on Indonesia's main island The interior of a house is seen after one of its wall collapsed during an earthquake which struck Cianjur, West Java, early Monday afternoon Several landslides were reported around Cianjur.

Dozens of buildings were damaged, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities. Herman Suherman, a local, said 20 deaths and 300 injuries had been counted in a single hospital - and that toll is likely to rise as more buildings are searched. He said relatives of victims had congregated at the town's Sayang hospital. 'We are currently handling people who are in an emergency state in this hospital.

The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital,' he said. 'There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated.' The quake was felt strongly in the greater Jakarta area.