Damage reports on quake come in

JAKARTA (JP): The earthquake that shook Jakarta and much of West Java Monday afternoon has damaged scores of homes, schools and other public property in the south of the province.

The areas most affected were the Cibaliung, Panimbang, Cimanggu, Sumur, Taman Jaya and South Banten districts and Pandeglang regency, Antara said yesterday.

Measuring 6.0 in the open-ended Richter scale, the quake struck at 3:05 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. Its epicenter was below the Indian Ocean sea bed, about 300 kilometers southwest of Jakarta.

In South Banten, the district closest to the epicenter, Pandeglang Regent H. Yitno led a team of investigators that found several offices, homes and elementary school buildings severely damaged.

In Cibaliung district, 13 kilometers south of Pandeglang, the district head's official residences, a doctors surgery, local government offices, a police headquarters, a madrasah (Islamic school), houses and a public health center had been severely damaged. Walls had cracked, support beams collapsed, roof tiles scattered and buildings slipped sideways.

Sukajadi village in Cibaliung district reported that nine homes had been badly damaged, four elementary school buildings had collapsed and 11 homes suffered light damaged.

In Panimbang district, six elementary schools and the residence of the Mekar Jaya elementary school headmaster had been damaged.

Nevertheless, 570 elementary school students in Panimbang, Sumur and Cibaliung districts were continuing their studies, Panimbang's district head Agus Muladi said yesterday.

Uus Sukandi, a teacher at a local elementary school said 39 second-grade students had joined classes of first-grade students.

Some of the seaside houses around Bayah beach, Panggrangan, Malingping and Binuangeun in Lebak regency, South Banten district, had lost roofing tiles.

The authorities have not yet established how many were injured in the earthquake.

"We continue to search this area for further damage, despite only seeing scattered roof tiles," the head of Lebak's social services, Gofar, said.

Officials in Pandeglang continue to search for damage to organize repairs and see about distributing funds for rebuilding.

Teams investigating the damage are hampered by the vast distances they have to cover and poor access to telephones.

The earthquake caused panic across Jakarta and in West Java. Thousands spilled out of high rise buildings, fighting their way down emergency stairs. In Jakarta, the quake caused various degree of damage in its high rise buildings. (01)