The powerful 7.8 magnitude quake wreaked new damage and suffering in Syria’s last rebel-held enclave,already destroyed by years of fighting and bombardment.
The quake has triggered a frantic search for survivors in cities and towns with more than 2000 killed and thousands more missing or injured.
Residents in the territory’s capital said the tremor was the worst they had experienced in decades.
The undersea quake struck at a depth of 36km.
Data from National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed that 100 of the 272 confirmed deaths from the earthquake on Java were children.
Geoscience Australia reported a magnitude 4 seismic event struck near Nickel West’s mine in the Goldfields’ region at 3.24pm on Wednesday at a depth of five kilometres.
According to the government’s National Disaster Agency,as of Tuesday evening more than 265 people were killed,with hundreds missing and injured,almost all in and around Cianjur.
One woman said that when the earthquake hit,her home in Cianjur started “shaking like it was dancing”.
The strong earthquake collapsed the roof of the Australian High Commission in Honiara. Staff are safe and officials trying to confirm the safety of other Australians.
Operations were focused on about a dozen locations in Cianjur,where people are still believed trapped,said Endra Atmawidjaja,the Public Works and Housing spokesperson.
In October 1968,the small wheat town of Meckering in Western Australia was struck by an earthquake. Much of the town was reduced to rubble and many houses were demolished.