At least 162 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a deadly earthquake rocked Indonesia.
The country's main island of Java, which has an estimated population of 150 million, was hit. Around 700 people are currently reported to have been injured
The epicentre of the quake is reported to be in the Cianjur region in West Java at a depth of around 6 miles, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
National Disaster Mitigation Agency Chief Suharyanto confirmed a number of buildings had been damaged including a hospital and boarding school.
Around 25 people have so far been pulled out of building debris, with damage to around 2,200 buildings in Jakarta alone.
According to AFP, local official Herman Suherman said to Metro TV earlier today: "The information I got for now, in this hospital alone, nearly 20 died and at least 300 people are being treated.
"Most of them had fractures from being trapped by the ruins of buildings."
Though the country is used to quakes of this size, it is less common for the capital of Jakarta to be as affected. Reports say high-rise buildings swayed and were evacuated as the earth moved below.
Further reports indicated hundreds more people have been injured and multiple landslides were triggered. The death toll is expected to rise.
The head of Indonesia's meteorological agency, Dwikorita Karnawat called on people to remain away from buildings to protect them from potential aftershocks.
Around 25 aftershocks were reported in the first two hours after the tremor.
Suherman added: "We are currently handling people who are in an emergency state in this hospital. The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital.
"There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated."
Vidi Primadhania, a resident of South Jakarta, said: "The quake felt so strong. My colleagues and I decided to get out of our office on the ninth floor using the emergency stairs."
AFP reported one person said people panicked and ran for exits in their building as the quake struck.
"I was working when the floor under me was shaking," said lawyer Mayadita Waluyo, 22. "I could feel the tremor clearly. I tried to do nothing to process what it was but it became even stronger and lasted for some time.
"I feel a bit dizzy now and my legs are also a bit cramped because I had to walk downstairs from the 14th floor."
The country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity as it lies on the infamous 'Ring of Fire,' around the edge of the Pacific ocean.
National Geographic estimates that around 90% of all earthquakes occur along the ring and around 100 died in January 2021 when a 6.2 hit the island of Sulawesi.
In February this year, another 25 people died and over 460 were injured when a 6.2 magnitude tremor struck West Sumatra.
Most infamously, the Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean took the lives of around 230,000. Most of the victims were in Indonesia.
