At least 46 people have died after an earthquake shook Indonesia’s main island of Java, damaging dozens of buildings and sending residents into the streets of the capital Jakarta for safety.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.6 quake was centred in the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 6.2 miles.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto said: “There are 46 dead people at the Cianjur regional hospital and around 700 injured people. Many were hurt because they were hit by collapsed buildings.”

Several landslides were reported around Cianjur. Dozens of buildings were damaged, including an Islamic boarding school, a hospital and other public facilities, the agency said.

Information is still being collected about the extent of casualties and damage.

The quake was felt strongly in the greater Jakarta area. High rises in the capital swayed and some were evacuated.

Injured people
People injured during an earthquake receive medical treatment (AP)

Earthquakes occur frequently across the sprawling archipelago nation, but it is uncommon for them to be felt in Jakarta.

The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In February, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured more than 460 in West Sumatra province. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.

A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed nearly 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.