WEST JAVA EARTHQUAKE DAMAGES 27 HOUSES IN BREBES

Brebes, Central Java, Aug. 3 (ANTARA) - The powerful earthquake which hit West Java on Wednesday afternoon, damaged 27 houses in Brebes District, Central Java Province.

The destroyed houses were located in several villages in Brebes, but there was no casualty in the disaster, Adhe Dhani Raharjo, head of the Brebes Search and Rescue team coordinator, said here on Thursday.

The temblor-affected villages were Tegal Glagah, Windusakti (Salem sub district), Kedungbanteng (Peguyangan sub district), Kedungoleng, and Taraban.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Wednesday at 2.55 pm local time, causing people in places as far Jakarta, Brebes and Semarang (Central Java) to rush out of buildings in panic.

The earthquake killed at least 39 people, injuring hundreds of others.

The temblor damaged at least 3,199 houses in Sukabumi city and district.

Some 1,959 houses were seriously damaged and 1,240 others slightly damaged, according to data collected by local military and police personnel, Lt. Col. Muhammad Yusuf, head of the Sukabumi disaster mitigation task force, said here on Thursday.

The powerful temblor caused damages in every sub district in Sukabumi city and district, he said.

South Sukabumi was the worst hit by the earthquake which damaged at least 400 houses in Lengkong sub district.

The Sukabumi district administration will provide financial assistance amounting to Rp2 million for each seriously damaged house and Rp1 million for each slightly damaged house.

The Sukabumi authorities has also provided 100 tons of rice to be distributed to the earthquake's victims.