SEARCH STILL ON FOR 34 BURIED BY QUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE

Bandung, W Java, Sept 7 (ANTARA) - The number of dead victims in West Java's earthquake was at 2.45 pm on Monday recorded at 74 with 34 others still believed buried by a landslide in Babakan Caringin hamlet, Cikangkareng village, Cianjur district, a rescue worker said.

Rescue workers at the Natural disaster handling post in West Java, said that in cooperation with police and military personnel they were still searching for 34 victims believed to have remained buried by a landslides in Cianjur.

"The number of fatalities had reached 74. Rescuers faced difficulties in evacuating the victims in Cianjur because they were buried by thick layers of earth ," rescuer Firdaus said.

It was reported that a total of 925 victims had sustained serious injuries and some of them were still being treated in hospitals.

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale with its epicenter located 142 km southwest of Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Wednesday (September 2) damaged many buildings and killed about 74 people in Tasikmalaya, Cianjur, and other areas in West Java.

The earthquake whose epicenter was at 8.24 degrees southern latitude, and 107.32 degrees eastern longitude near Tasikmalaya in West Java was also felt as far away as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and the resort island of Bali.