Rescuers in Indonesia continued digging Friday to reach dozens buried by a major earthquake that killed at least 64 people as anger mounted at the slow response from authorities. Police and troops cleared boulders and mounds of earth in the village of Cikangkareng south of the capital Jakarta in a frantic bid to reach those trapped following Wednesday's 7.0-magnitude quake, officials said.
Authorities had recovered the bodies of 64 people killed in the quake across Java while around 33 were buried and feared dead in Cikangkareng, disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told AFP. The quake, which struck off the south coast of Java, triggered a landslide in the village 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Jakarta that stripped hillsides bare and buried entire families.
"We've been using heavy machinery for the rescue effort," Kardono said, after earlier attempts were hampered by poor access, forcing rescuers to pick through the rubble with bare hands, hoes and improvised tools. Damage from the quake, which caused a panicked rush from swaying buildings in Jakarta, was spread throughout Indonesia's main island of Java. At least 30,000 homes had been damaged and 5,000 people displaced, officials said.
In the village of Cipanas in West Java province, 120 kilometres from the capital, hundreds of residents whose homes were destroyed set up a makeshift camp in surrounding fields. Suryati, a 75-year-old villager, said locals had received little help from the government or aid organisations. The only assistance to have arrived came a day after the quake, she said.