Thursday, September 3, 2009

Indonesia earthquake: Your experiences

Dozens of people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Java.

Many properties collapsed in the city of Tasikmalaya on the west of the island and thousands of people have been evacuated, officials said.

BBC News website readers have been sharing their experiences.

-- I was in my apartment on the 46th floor in central Jakarta, when the earthquake struck. The entire building was shaking and moving. Cracks were in various places of the wall. Many people left the building however few of them were panicking. As this is the second time a severe earthquake has hit my apartment, it's reason enough for me to move to another one.
Robert Van Buchem, Jakarta, Indonesia

-- I live in Bogor which is about 65km south of Jakarta and about 150 km from the epicentre of the quake. I can guarantee you that this one was real scary and frightening. I never knew how fast I could run! The shaking started very suddenly and it was very heavy. My flat screen dropped spontaneously from my desk. We all ran out to our open backyard next to the swimming pool where we stayed till it was over.

The walls shook in a wave pattern. I have never seen or heard anything like it. We were waiting for our house to collapse but fortunately it didn't. Our 12m swimming pool produced 1m high waves, splashing through the garden for about 20 seconds! The distress to your body and mind are tremendous. I felt like I was having a stroke with the ground moving so violently. The most frightening thing is you cannot control it. We were lucky... many others were not and we wish all the families in this tragedy all strength and our condolences.

Leo , Bogor, Indonesia

-- I work in Bumi Serpong Damai a south western suburb of Jakarta. I've been through a few Indonesian earthquakes now, but this one was different because it went on a long time. We believe the shaking in our area lasted for more than two full minutes. Thankfully damage was limited to some surface cracking on buildings and there are no injuries to report.
Christopher M. Patton, Tangerang, Indonesia

See more experience at the original source:
BBC News
SEE ALSO: