Powerful earthquake kills 57 in Indonesia

The 7.0-magnitude temblor jolted the Indonesian island of Java causing casualties and injuring more than 400, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Agency.

Indonesian villagers continued a frantic search on Thursday for people buried in the rubble, after a powerful quake killed at least 57 and destroyed thousands of homes in the hills of West Java.

The quake struck shortly before 3 p.m. (4 a.m. ET) Wednesday. Its epicenter was located offshore about 190 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Jakarta, according the Geological Survey. The center was about 50 kilometers (31 miles) deep. A tsunami watch went into effect but quickly expired.

The brunt of the temblor struck the West Java province, including Cianjur, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Jakarta. The quake also damaged buildings and cut off electricity to Tasikmalaya, a mountainous city about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of the epicenter, according to a witness named Maya. Residents panicked when the quake struck, running into the streets where they stayed hours later -- fearing an aftershock.

* Quake destroys rural dwellings, dozens missing
* Communications with some coastal areas cut
* No damage to key power, energy, minings operations
* Tremor caused deadly landslide, 24,000 houses damaged

Quote: "Many of our young were buried by the landslide. We need food, we don't have food," said villager Rohim.

Government agencies said the death toll was likely to rise, given that some affected coastal areas could not be contacted.

Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said that it was difficult to rescue any survivors or recover bodies trapped under the landslide because heavy earth-moving machines could not be used effectively.

BBC Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8235100.stm

Pictures: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8234074.stm