Earthquake in Indonesia: death count reaches 310

Cianjur/Indonesia: Indonesia's natural disaster mitigation agency updated on Friday that the casualties from the earthquake that happened on the Island of Java have risen to 310, Agence France-Presse reported.

The agency head Suharyanto said that 24 people still remain missing after landslides induced by the quakes happened this week and caused buildings to collapse in Cianjur, a town in West Java.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 hit Indonesia's main island Java on Monday, prompting strong tremors for several seconds. The weather and geophysics agency (BMKG) said the epicentre was on land in Cianjur in West Java, at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles). Within two hours after the quake, 25 aftershocks were recorded, though no potential Tsunami was warned.

TV footage showed some buildings in Cianjur reduced to rubble and residents huddling outside. A statement from the national disaster agency said several homes and an Islamic boarding school in the area had been damaged.

One of the residents, Muchlis, told Metro TV that he felt a huge tremor when the earthquake hit. Then he saw the walls and ceiling of the office building being damaged. People ran out of the buildings, and he saw some people fainting and vomiting in response. He added that he worried there would be another quake.

Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, and most of the islands are mountainous. Of the 400 volcanoes, approximately 150 are active. It is also close to the Ring of Fire, a region around the rim of the Pacific Ocean that is vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.