Dozens dead as earthquake hits Indonesia's Java island

Hotel employees in Cianjur, Indonesia, check hurricane news — (Image credit: Adriana Adie/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck the Indonesia's main island of Java early Monday, killing at least 46 people, officials said. The quake damaged dozens of buildings and prompted landslides around Cianjur in West Java province. It was felt as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, which is about 45 miles northwest of Cianjur.

"There are 46 dead people at the Cianjur regional hospital and around 700 injured people," National Disaster Mitigation Agency head Suharyanto said. "Many were hurt because they were hit by collapsed buildings." Among the buildings reported to be damaged were a hospital and an Islamic boarding school.

Indonesia, located along the seismically active "Ring of Fire" string of volcanoes and fault lines, is no stranger to deadly earthquakes. A magnitude 6.2 temblor rattled West Sumatra province in February, killing at least 25 people, and more than 100 were killed and thousands injured in another 6.2 quake in West Sulawesi providing in January 2021, The Associated Press reports. Most of the roughly 230,000 people who died in a massive 2004 tsunami lived in Indonesia.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.