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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 22 November 2022
Quake topples houses in Indonesia’s Java; at least 162 dead

By FIRMAN TAUFIQ and she ran for the exit.
and EDNA TARIGAN “The vehicles on the road
Associated Press stopped because the
CIANJUR, Indonesia (AP) quake was very strong,”
— A powerful earthquake she said. “I felt it shook
killed at least 162 people three times, but the first
and injured hundreds on one was the strongest one
Indonesia’s main island on for around 10 seconds. The
Monday. Terrified residents roof of the shop next to
fled into the street, some the store I work in had col-
covered in blood and de- lapsed, and people said
bris. two had been hit.”
Many of the dead were Twenty-five people were
public-school students who still stuck buried in the debris
had finished their classes in Cijedil village, National
for the day and were tak- Disaster Mitigation Agency
ing extra lessons at several spokesman Abdul Muhari
Islamic schools when they said earlier in the day.
collapsed, West Java Gov- Indonesia’s Meteorology,
ernor Ridwan Kamil said as Climatology, and Geo-
he announced the new physical Agency recorded
death toll in the remote, ru- at least 25 aftershocks.
ral area. “The quake felt so strong.
The toll is expected to rise Workers inspect a store damaged during an earthquake in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, My colleagues and I de-
further, but no estimates Nov. 21, 2022. Associated Press cided to get out of our of-
were immediately avail- fice on the ninth floor using
able because of the area’s 13,000 people whose Some were resuscitated. in West Java province in the emergency stairs,” said
far-flung, rural population. homes were heavily dam- “I fainted. It was very the late afternoon, at a Vidi Primadhania, a worker
Roughly 175,000 people aged were taken to evac- strong,” said Hasan, a con- depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 in the capital, where many
live in the town of Cianjur, uation centers. struction worker who, like miles). It also caused panic residents ran into the streets
part of a mountainous dis- Emergency workers treat- many Indonesians, uses in the greater Jakarta area, and others hid under desks.
trict of the same name with ed the injured on stretch- one name. “I saw my friends where high-rises swayed The country of more than
more than 2.5 million peo- ers and blankets outside running to escape from the and some people evacu- 270 million people is fre-
ple. Known for their piety, hospitals, on terraces and building. But it was too late ated. In many homes in quently struck by earth-
the people of Cianjur live in parking lots in the Cianjur to get out and I was hit by Cianjur, chunks of concrete quakes, volcanic eruptions
mostly in towns of one- and region, about three hours the wall.” Residents, some and roof tiles fell inside bed- and tsunamis because of
two-story buildings and in drive from the capital, crying and holding their rooms. its location on the “Ring of
smaller homes in the sur- Java. The injured, includ- children, fled damaged Shopkeeper Dewi Risma Fire,” an arc of volcanoes
rounding countryside. ing children, were given homes after the magnitude was working with custom- and fault lines in the Pacific
Kamil said that more than oxygen masks and IV lines. 5.6 quake shook the region ers when the quake hit, Basin. q

Heavy rains in the Balkans cause flooding, killing 6 people

By ERION XHABAFTI widespread evacuations and hundreds of homes emergency because of country,” said Mayor Bardh
and LLAZAR SEMINI and caused significant were flooded. Authorities the heavy flooding and the Spahia.
Associated Press damage, authorities said evacuated scores of fami- army was deployed to help Farmers, who have repeat-
SHKODER, Albania (AP) — Monday. lies amid power outages. the local population with edly suffered from floods
Torrential rains in the Bal- One of the most impacted Early Monday, police div- evacuations and deliveries in the post-communist era,
kans over the past two days areas was in northwestern ers found the bodies of two of drinking water and food. voiced despair at their
led to floods that killed at Albania, where thousands missing men, a father and Torrential rain of up to 400 losses, which included live-
least six people, prompted of acres of agricultural land son whose car was washed millimeters (14 inches) in 12 stock, and asked the gov-
away Sunday in the village hours on Sunday caused ernment to help.
of Boge, some 150 kilome- the Drini River, the longest “We need government
ters (90 miles) north of the in Albania, to overflow its assistance because dam-
capital Tirana. banks by at least 10 centi- age from flooding is very,
Swollen rivers in Monte- meters (4 inches), accord- very grave,” said Lina Zefi,
negro and parts of Serbia ing to the authorities. 60, in Kuc village, less than
claimed four lives over the At least 3,000 hectares 10 kilometers (6 miles) from
weekend. A woman and (7,500 acres) of agricultural Shkoder. The historic 18th
her two children drowned land was flooded in Shkod- century Lead Mosque in
in Montenegro when their er and Lezhe districts, some Shkoder was also under
car plunged into a river as it 100 kilometers (60 miles) water after suffering dam-
was going over a bridge. In northwest of Tirana. age from past floods.
southern Serbia, a 2-year- Hundreds of army troops Flooding also affected
old boy drowned after fall- were sent to evacuate areas in western Kosovo,
ing into a river. families after more than 600 causing some damage
Authorities in the south- homes were flooded. to buildings and school
A man walks through a flooded area in the Kuc village, near ern Serbian region of Ras- “Shkoder is at the moment closures but no reported
Shkoder, in northwestern Albania, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022.
Associated Press ka proclaimed a state of isolated from the rest of the casualties.q