JAKARTA, Nov 22 — Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday visited Cugenang town in Cianjur district, the epicentre of a magnitude-5.6 quake that killed 268 people.
The president ordered a search and rescue agency to evacuate and find victims buried by landslides triggered by the quake.
He pledged to help the district with the infrastructure rebuilding and expressed condolences to victims and their families in this disaster that occurred yesterday in West Java province.
The victims would receive a maximum 50 million rupiah each for repairs to their damaged houses, said the president – also affectionately known as Jokowi – after visiting shelters, taking care of hundreds of people who were displaced because of the disaster.
According to a press statement, Jokowi surveyed the damage from the quake and met with local communities during his visit.
He was accompanied by Coordinating Minister of Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.
Meanwhile, Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto said in a virtual briefing that apart from the 268 deaths, there are 1,083 people injured and 151 remain missing based on data compiled as at 5 pm local time.
Over 56,362 people were placed in relief centres after 21,282 houses were damaged, with around 6,570 collapsed.
The Embassy of Malaysia in Jakarta and the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) have expressed its sincere condolences to the victims and the families.
AHA Centre has sent a letter of sympathy with an offer of assistance to BNPB, affirming its willingness and readiness to support the authority.
The centre’s disaster monitoring and response system estimates 3.29 million people, 981,500 households, and US$12.2 billion worth of infrastructure have been exposed with the quake’s depth and magnitude, AHA noted in a flash update.
— Bernama
