JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday ordered swift rescue and relief efforts following the deaths of eight people in an earthquake that hit southern Java.
Three others were seriously injured during Saturday’s 5.9-magnitude quake and more than 1,180 buildings were damaged, most slightly, the disaster agency BNPB reported. Some houses were flattened, according to Indonesian media images.
Two shelters for the displaced have been set up in Lumajang City.
All the casualties were recorded in 15 districts and cities in East Java, the province closest to the epicenter of the quake, which occurred in the Indian Ocean.
“I have ordered … an immediate emergency response to search and find victims under the rubble and treat the wounded,” the president, known by his popular name Jokowi, said in comments.
It was not reported that the quake disrupted production facilities, but the BNPB said 150 public facilities were damaged. Most of the industrial areas in East Java are on the north side of the island.
Jokowi noted that as Indonesia straddles the volcanic “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific, natural disasters such as earthquakes could occur at any time, adding that Indonesians should always be prepared.
The Southeast Asian nation was hit last week by Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which caused landslides and flash floods that killed more than 170 people on the islands of eastern Nusa Tenggara province.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook the island of Sulawesi in January, killing more than 100 people.
Report by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Written by Gayatri Suroyo; Edited by William Mallard