Earthquake in Indonesia Collapses Buildings, Kills at least 162

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Java island on Monday, collapsing¹ buildings and killing² at least 162 people. Hundreds of others were reported injured.

Indonesian officials said the quake was centered near the town of Cianjur in West Java, about 75 kilometers southeast of the capital, Jakarta.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the number of confirmed dead had risen to 162.

The earthquake caused numerous structures to fall around Cianjur, trapping at least 25 people under collapsed³ buildings. Officials said more than 2,200 homes were damaged and more than 5,300 people had become displaced.

In Jakarta, some buildings shook and some offices were evacuated⁵.

The head of Cianjur's government, Herman Suherman, reported power outages in the area. The power cuts were affecting some communication efforts. Suherman added that a landslide⁶ had blocked evacuations in one area.

Hundreds of victims were treated on the grounds of the main government hospital in Cianjur. Elsewhere, groups of people gathered outside buildings that had collapsed.

Among numerous damaged structures were an Islamic school, a hospital and other public buildings, the disaster agency said. Officials were still working to examine the full level of damage. Indonesia's weather and geophysics agency said the quake struck at a comparably shallow depth of 10 kilometers.

Vidi Primadhania was working in Jakarta when the quake struck. "The quake felt so strong. My colleagues and I decided⁷ to get out of our office on the ninth floor using the emergency stairs," Primadhania told The Associated Press. Some workers who remained inside buildings took cover underneath⁸ their desks.

The country of more than 270 million people often experiences earthquakes, volcanic⁹ activity and ocean waves called tsunamis¹¹. This is because Indonesia sits within the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a collection of volcanoes and fault lines.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia set off a huge tsunami¹⁰ that struck 14 countries. The disaster killed 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline, more than half of them in Indonesia.

Words in This Story

evacuate⁴ – v. to move people from a dangerous place to a safer place

shallow – adj. having only a short distance from the top to the bottom

stairs – n. a set of steps leading from one level to another, such as in a building

desk – n. a table used for doing work on

fault line – n. a break in the Earth's surface

1 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

6 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

9 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

10 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

11 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句