Dozens killed after M5.6 earthquake jolts Indonesia  

Jakarta: More than a dozen people were killed and at least 300 injured in a 5.6-magnitude quake that rattled Indonesia's West Java province on Monday, a local official said.

The 5.6 magnitude quake struck Cianjur town in West Java, at a shallow depth of 10km (6 miles), according to US Geological Survey data. 

Herman Suherman, a government official from Cianjur, the town in West Java where the epicentre of the quake was located, told that up to 20 people had died at one hospital in the area. 

"The information I got for now, in this hospital alone, nearly 20 died and at least 300 people are being treated. Most of them had fractures from being trapped by the ruins of buildings," the head of Cianjur's administration said. 

Officials have warned the death toll could rise and of possible aftershocks. Videos on social media show the damage to people's houses and shops.

Rescuers have been trying to evacuate people from collapsed buildings, and managed to save a woman and her baby, according to local reports.

In Jakarta, office workers rushed out of buildings in the civic and business district during the tremor, which lasted for about a minute.

The country suffers frequent earthquakes, straddling the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet.

In January, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Java Island—prompting some residents to flee from buildings in panic.