JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday ordered rapid rescue and relief efforts after eight people were killed in an earthquake that hit southern Java island.
Three others were badly injured in Saturday’s 5.9 magnitude earthquake and more than 1,180 buildings were damaged, most of them slightly, according to the BNPB disaster agency. Some houses were razed to the ground, according to images in Indonesian media.
Two shelters for the displaced people have been established in Lumajang city.
All casualties were reported in 15 districts and cities in East Java, the province closest to the epicenter of the Indian Ocean earthquake.
“I have ordered … immediate emergency aid to search for and find victims under the rubble and to treat the injured,” the president, known by his popular name Jokowi, said in a broadcast.
There were no reports that the earthquake disrupted production facilities, but the BNPB said 150 public facilities had been damaged. Most of the industrial areas in East Java are located on the north side of the island.
Jokowi noted that as Indonesia stretches across the Pacific Volcanic Ring of Fire, natural disasters such as earthquakes can occur at any time, adding that Indonesians should always be prepared.
The Southeast Asian nation was hit by tropical cyclone Seroja last week, which triggered landslides and flash floods that killed more than 170 people on islands in East Nusa Tenggara province.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake that hit the island of Sulawesi in January killed more than 100 people.
Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Written by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by William Mallard