It felt like the end of the world: Indonesia quake survivors recount harrowing experience

CUGENANG, Indonesia Mr Jajang Nurdin was about to tuck into his lunch of rice and salted fish when he felt the ground suddenly shake vigorously like waves.

Then, the walls of the rice farmers house started crumbling.

As bricks fell on him and with blood flowing from his head, he grabbed his toddler and ran out of his home in Sukamanah village, one of the areas worst hit by the quake in West Java on Monday.

Then Mr Jajang heard someone crying behind him and turned to see his wife pinned under the rubble.

Only her head was visible. I was so shocked, I felt like fainting. It really felt like it was the end of the world, he told The Straits Times from his home now reduced to a pile of debris.

Mr Jajang jumped through a window, and with the help of neighbours, managed to extricate his wife alive.

I lost my house, but God is kind, my family and I survived, he added. A house can be rebuilt, money can be earned again, but you cannot bring back your dead loved ones.

The Cianjur regency, where Sukamanah is located, has been hit hard by Mondays 5.6-magnitude quake that has killed at least 268 people and injured another 1,083, said Indonesias national disaster mitigation agency chief Suharyanto, who goes by one name.

The impact has also left 22,198 houses damaged and displaced 58,362 people. Remote video URL Dozens of lower intensity aftershocks since Monday kept Mr Jajang and his neighbours from sleeping at night. Many of the villagers camped outside their houses or huddled together in makeshift shelters.

Mr Agus Juanda, 34, an odd-job labourer, was among a hundred people who chose to stay in a makeshift shelter. Mr Agus said he was still traumatised after saving his four-year-old son from a collapsed neighbours house.

My son was playing with two other boys. One boy managed to escape, while I managed to get another out of the house. Suddenly I heard whimpers, which sounded like my sons voice, but couldnt locate him, he said.

I began digging through the debris with my bare hands. My hand touched his body and I pulled him out. The fear of losing him was unimaginable, he added. Mr Agus Juanda (right) with his wife Lisda (left) and son. He had to save his four-year-old son from a collapsed neighbours house. ST PHOTO: ARLINA ARSHAD More On This Topic Hunt for buried survivors after Indonesia quake kills at least 162 I was crushed: Fear and panic grip quake-struck Indonesian town Immediately after the quake, thick grey dust covered the roads and got into peoples nostrils and eyes, blinding them momentarily, residents said.

Mr Ade Sutansyah, 56, one of the village heads, recalled a sound like thunder that lasted several seconds when the temblor began. He threw the pile of wood that he just chopped aside and shouted for everyone to leave their homes.

The quake made a loud whirring sound. That, and noises of people panicking and screaming, houses toppling, made everything very chaotic, he said. A resident died. She was at home praying.

The quake also triggered landslides, including at a hillside in Cugenang district. Residents told The Straits Times that there used to be dozens of houses there that were swept away. The quake also triggered landslides, including at a hillside in Cugenang district. ST PHOTO: ARLINA ARSHAD One woman was seen weeping near the site, the fate of her father unknown.

He was only delivering rice to a food stall here. It was supposed to be a five-minute job at most. I think he might be buried under the earth. I called him many times, but his phone was dead, she said, wiping her tears with a headscarf. More On This Topic At least 103 dead, hundreds injured after 5.6 earthquake hits Indonesia Earthquakes explained: Are they happening more often?