Dozens of people were killed and thousands of houses and buildings were damaged after a 7.3-magnitude quake shook the southern part of West Java on Wednesday (2/9) afternoon.
The epicenter was around 30 kilometers beneath the sea southwest of West Java’s city of Tasikmalaya. In Cianjur, the quake caused a cliff facing a hamlet in Cikangkareng village to slide, which buried more than 50 residents alive with soil and rocks.
Data from the Bandung regency’s crisis center shows that 37,850 houses have been damaged by the earthquake. Of the figure, almost two thirds are located in Pangalengan district, which is famous for its tea plantations and milk production.
It is estimated that several emergency public kitchens in the district have to cook at least 4.3 tons of rice per day for the thousands of people who are currently living in makeshift tents following Wednesday’s earthquake.
The quake also devastated the 54,000-populated Sindangbarang district in Cianjur. Although the quake has not claimed any lives, it has damaged at least 2,000 houses in the area.
