More rescuers and volunteers were deployed Wednesday in devastated areas on Indonesia’s main island of Java to search for the dead and missing from an earthquake that killed at least 268 people. With many missing, some remote areas still unreachable and more than 1,000 people injured in the 5.6 magnitude quake, the death toll was likely to rise. Hospitals near the epicenter on the densely populated island were already overwhelmed, and patients hooked up to IV drips lay on stretchers and cots in tents set up outside, awaiting further treatment. More than 12,000 army personel were deployed Wednesday to increase the strength of search efforts that being carried out by more than 2,000 joint forces of police, the search and rescue agency and volunteers, said Suharyanto, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief. Television reports showed police, soldiers and other rescue personnel using jackhammers, circular saws and sometimes their bare hands and farm tools, digging desperately in the worst-hit area of Cijendil village where tons of mud, rocks and trees were left from a landslide. Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said aid was reaching thousands of people left homeless who fled to temporary shelters where supplies can be distributed only by foot over the rough terrain. In several hard-hit areas, water as well as food and medical supplies were being distributed from trucks, and authorities have deployed military personnel carrying food, medicine, blankets, field tents and water tankers. Read: Magnitude 5.9 quake hits northwest Turkey, causing panic Volunteers and rescue personnel erected more temporary shelters for those left homeless in several villages of Cianjur district. Most were barely protected by makeshift shelters that were lashed by heavy monsoon downpours. Only a few were lucky to be protected by tarpaulin-covered tents. They said they were running low on food, blankets and other aid, as emergency supplies were rushed to the region. He said more than 58,000 survivors were moved to shelters and more than 1,000 people were injured, with nearly 600 of them still receiving treatment for serious injuries. He said rescuers had recovered 268 bodies from collapsed houses and landslides that triggered by the earthquake, and at least 151 still reported missing. But not all of the dead have been identified, so it’s possible some the bodies pulled from the rubble are of people on the missing list. Rescue operations were focused on about a dozen villages in Cianjur, where people are still believed trapped, Suharyanto said.

The death toll from the earthquake that shook the Indonesian island of Java leapt to 252 on Tuesday as more bodies were found beneath collapsed buildings. The Cianjur regional disaster mitigation agency said on its Instagram site that the number of dead increased from 162 reported the night before. Another 31 people remain missing and hundreds were injured. The city of Cianjur, south of Jakarta, was near the epicenter of the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Monday afternoon. The temblor sent terrified residents fleeing into the streets, some covered in blood and debris, and caused buildings around the rural area to collapse. One woman told The Associated Press that when the earthquake hit, her home in Cianjur started “shaking like it was dancing.” “I was crying and immediately grabbed my husband and children,” said the woman, who gave her name only as Partinem. The house collapsed shortly after she escaped with her family. “If I didn't pull them out we might have also been victims,” she said, gazing over the pile of concrete and timber rubble. In addition to those killed, authorities reported more than 300 people were seriously hurt and at least 600 more suffered minor injuries.

The Indonesian government has re-imposed a visa-free visit policy for citizens of fellow ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights said on Tuesday. "With this new policy, foreigners from nine other ASEAN countries are able to enter with visa-free visits," said Director of Immigration Traffic Amran Aris. Also Read: 6.0-magnitude quake strikes off eastern Indonesia People from these Southeast Asian countries are only required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a negative polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) taken 48 hours prior to arrival, and use the PeduliLindungi test and track app on their mobile phone. They are no longer required to undergo a PCR test upon arrival as long as they pass a temperature check. International airports in Yogyakarta, Makassar, Medan and Pekanbaru have reopened. Also Read: Amputees' Football: Japan, Indonesia earn big win    

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia's eastern province of North Maluku early Tuesday, but there is no potential for tsunami, the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said. Also Read: Indonesia quake kills 7 in Java, jolts Bali; no tsunami risk The quake rocked at 08:44 Jakarta time (0144 GMT), with the epicenter at 108 km northwest of Halmahera Barat (West Halmahera) district of the province and the shallow of 10 km under the seabed, the agency said. Also Read: Damaged roads, lack of gear hinder Indonesia quake rescue  

Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment on Saturday hampered rescuers after a strong earthquake left at least 46 people dead and hundreds injured on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

A strong, shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island just after midnight Friday, toppling homes and buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least 42 people.