The massive destruction of lives and properties by an earthquake that struck Java, Indonesia on Monday 21st November 2022, is still having a toll on the lives of the affected individuals. The death toll has soared to a whooping 268 deaths, with majority of the victims being school children.
Many of those killed and injured in the earthquake on Java Island, were children who were still at school when the earthquake hit, rescuers said. Fourteen year old Aprizal Mulyadi said that he was trapped after the buildings were crashed, and his legs were buried under the collapsed building. He said he was pulled to safety by his friend Zulfikar but unfortunately, Zulfikar could not make it after saving his friend, and he later died after he got trapped under the rubble.
Indonesia’s national disaster response agency, the BNPB earlier announced that the current death toll was 103 with 31 misplaced persons, however, they gave caution that these numbers may rise, and eventually, they did. The current death toll in Indonesia due to the hit from the earthquake is 286 with at least 2,200 homes flattened to the ground and more than 13,000 people evacuated from their homes.
The earthquake struck a mountainous region on Monday, and this caused landslides to bury villages near the West Java town of Cianjur. The earthquake and its aftershocks did a lot of damage to the people of Indonesia, and this indicates how strong and disturbing this natural disaster was to the people of Indonesia.
Victims were crushed or trapped after the buildings crashed and the walls and roofs caved in. “It all happened fast” Aprizal told a news agency. A representative of the National Search Agency also confirmed that many of the dead were young people.
According to Henri Alfiandi, most of the casualties were faced by schoolchildren because at the time that the earthquake hit the island, they were still at school.
Effects Of The Earthquake On Buildings And Structures
The earthquake which struck at a shallow depth of 10km was followed by a series of aftershocks which caused serious damages to the areas with poorly built homes. These structures quickly collapsed as soon as the earthquake struck.
A family in the village of Cibereum was trying to retrieve the body of their eldest son, a 28-year- old man who had been crushed to death, when the other levels of their house fell on him. Rescuers had a hard time sifting the rubble to pull the body from the collapsed building.
According to First Sergeant Payakun, “We have to dig through the concrete of the second floor that crushed the victim. But we have seen the body.”
Indonesian President, Joko Widodo paid a visit to the remote disaster zone the next day after the quake hit where he was seen with some responders. He promised to make emergency resources and compensation available to the affected communities.
“My instruction is to prioritize evacuating victims that are still under the rubble,” he stated.
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