62 killed as tremor jolts Indonesia

At least 62 people were killed, 25 went missing and about 700 others were injured after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's West Java province on Monday, officials said, reported Xinhua.

The quake has also caused heavy damages to many houses, buildings and infrastructure facilities. The tremors were strongly felt in the national capital Jakarta.

"Now the death toll reached 62 people with around 700 people injured," Spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency Abdul Muhari told Xinhua by phone, adding that the 25 missing people were buried under the rubble of houses and buildings.

Over 5,000 people were forced to take shelters at safer locations as the tremors destroyed more than 2,000 houses, buildings and infrastructure facilities, he said.

The agency has set up 47 centers providing aids including foods and medicine for the quake-impacted victims, said Muhari. The injured have been treated at hospitals in the district of Cianjur in the province, according to head of the National Disaster Management Agency Suharyanto.

The district is one of the hardest-hit areas during the earthquake, according to the country's meteorological, climatological and geophysical agency. Rescuers have been deployed to the quake-affected area to search for the quake victims, spokesperson for the provincial search and rescue office Joshua Banjarnahor told Xinhua by phone.

The quake struck at 13:21 Jakarta time (0621 GMT) with the epicenter located at 10 km southwest of the district of Cianjur in West Java province, and with a depth of 10 km, the meteorological, climatological and geophysical agency said.