Indonesia

Rescuers dig for victims after deadly earthquake strikes Java

Article published on the 2009-09-04 Latest update 2009-09-04 13:25 TU

Rescue workers search for victims of an earthquake in Cikangkareng, Indonesia, 3 September 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

Emergency teams continued to dig through rubble for survivors of a major earthquake south of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Friday. The government has been criticised for a slow reaction to the earthquake which has already killed 64 people.

Police and troops cleared boulders and mounds of earth in the village of Cikangkareng in a frantic bid to reach those trapped following Wednesday's 7.0-magnitude quake, officials said.

Authorities had recovered the bodies of 64 people killed in the quake across Java while around 33 were buried and feared dead in Cikangkareng, disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told French news agency AFP.

Damage from the quake, which caused a panicked rush from swaying buildings in Jakarta, was spread throughout Indonesia's main island of Java. At least 30,000 homes had been damaged and 5,000 people displaced, officials said.

In the village of Cipanas in West Java province, 120 kilometres from the capital, hundreds of residents whose homes were destroyed set up a makeshift camp in surrounding fields.

Suryati, a 75-year-old villager, said locals had received little help from the government or aid organisations. The only assistance to have arrived came a day after the quake, she said.

"The help should have come on the day of the disaster. Although we have received rice, we still need more medical supplies," she said.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country offered assistance and the US embassy in Jakarta announced it was giving 100,000 dollars in assistance but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said Indonesia can go it alone.