Indonesia earthquake: 15 dead,thousands evacuated

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.

TSUNAMI WARNINGS WITHDRAWN

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warnings were issued for coastal areas within several hundred kilometres of the epicentre soon after it struck,but were withdrawn about half an hour later.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.

Residents in Jakarta reported buildings shaking,and thousands of people streamed onto the streets of the capital from office and apartment blocks.

The chandelier started moving and it started shaking really strong,said Jakarta resident Victor Chan,who lives in a 34th floor apartment. It lasted quite long. I was really scared and rushed downstairs.

Everything was shaking and my neighbour shouted ‘quake,quake’,said Nur Syara,from the 31st floor of the same building. You could hear the walls creaking. I lay down on the floor. I was scared things would collapse.

A witness in Tasikmalaya said several houses collapsed,including the mayor’s office,and a mosque was damaged. Other buildings were damaged in Bandung,West Java,a major city that is home to several universities.

We were all studying and the building we were in started shaking for a few minutes and the ceiling fell,said a man identifying himself as Evan.

Indonesian electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) initially said the quake did not disrupt services.

But an official later said that its Salak geothermal power plant in West Java,which has three 55-megawatts units operated by PLN,stopped briefly when the quake hit.

State oil and gas firm Pertamina said its 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) Balongan refinery in West Java and 348,000 bpd Cilacap refinery in Central Java were unaffected.

State-owned mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) said its gold mining operations in West Java had not been hit,and Krakatau Steel,which has its main steel plant in West Java,also said it had not been affected.

Jaya Murjaya,at Indonesia’s seismology agency,said a slight increase in the sea level was recorded at Pelabuhan Ratu,in West Java.

The change of the sea level showed that there was a small tsunami,he said.