Death Toll in Indonesia Earthquake Rises to 268

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The damage caused by the earthquake in Indonesia has claimed the lives of 168 people so far.

According to official figures, the recent earthquake in Indonesia has claimed the lives of 268 people, many of whom are children. Around 1,083 people were injured and 151 people are still missing despite ongoing rescue operations.  

The 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Cianjur area of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, and the death toll has been rising sharply since the incident.

The large size of the affected area and damaged roads are posing to be quite a struggle for rescuers to locate and help those who are trapped in the region.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency estimates that 22,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed and over 58,000 people were forced to take shelter elsewhere. In some places, entire villages were buried by landslides caused by the earthquake. And remaining destruction was caused by over a dozen aftershocks that dismantled whatever was left of the damaged houses.

Many of the casualties so far have been children who were still in school when the incident happened, causing roofs to fall in and the walls to close in, trapping them inside the premises. Save the Children estimates that around 80 schools were damaged.
On his visit to the disaster area, President Joko Widodo said, “My instruction is to prioritize evacuating victims that are still trapped under rubble.”
In 2018, more than 2,000 people lost their lives to an earthquake on the island of Sulawesi.