Direct Relief Commits Support as Indonesia Reels from Deadly Quake

A medical team from Pondok Kopi Islamic Hospital departs on Nov. 21, 2022, for impacted areas in Indonesia after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds and injured more. The group is with the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center, which Direct Relief is supporting with a $50,000 emergency response grant to rapidly deploy medical services locally. (Photo courtesy of Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center)

By Gordon Willcock

November 22, 2022

Search and rescue efforts continue after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java on Monday, killing more than 268 people and injuring more than 1,000. The epicenter was in the Cianjur region of West Java, 45 miles southeast of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Search and rescue and other emergency response operations are ongoing, and the official death toll is expected to rise over the next 48 hours. Early reports indicate that hundreds of buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

The main public hospital in Cianjur, a city of 175,000, has sustained some damage and is currently at capacity due to an influx of patients. While information is still coming in from the affected region, previous experience responding to similar earthquake disasters in Indonesia and in other countries has shown that the next 48 hours will be critical for search and rescue operations and emergency medical trauma care for crush injuries and wounds.

Beyond 48 hours, the focus will shift to preventing disease outbreaks among displaced populations, reconnecting people with chronic disease medications, restoring access to primary healthcare, and targeting support to vulnerable groups such as older adults, pregnant women, and new mothers and infants.

Direct Relief’s Response

Direct Relief committed an initial $50,000 in emergency funding to support Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center, or MDMC, the disaster response arm of Indonesia’s largest civil society organization, which currently has medical and search and rescue teams deployed to the affected areas. Direct Relief is also coordinating closely with the ASEAN Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, or AHA Center, which is headquartered in Jakarta. In addition, Direct Relief is in contact with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and stands ready to support if required.

The organization has a long history of responding to regional disasters, including the South Asian earthquake and tsunami of 2004, the 2006 earthquake centered near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and the Lombok and Sulawesi earthquakes, which rattled the region in 2018.

Direct Relief will continue to respond as additional medical needs become known.