IN PHOTOS | Indonesia's deadly earthquake leaves a trail of bodies, destruction

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake on 21 November left at least 272 (as of today) dead, more than a third of them children, on Indonesia's main island of Java, as buildings crumbled and terrified residents ran for their lives.

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake on 21 November left at least 272 (as of today) dead, more than a third of them children, on Indonesia's main island of Java, as buildings crumbled and terrified residents ran for their lives. IN PIC: A father carris his dead son 

Data from National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed that 100 of the 272 confirmed deaths were children. Monday’s magnitude 5.6 quake injured more than 2,000 people, damaged at least 56,000 houses and displaced at least 62,000 people to evacuation centers and other shelters. The agency said 171 public facilities were destroyed, including 31 schools. (Photo | AP)

Indonesian rescuers have narrowed their focus to a landslide where dozens of people were believed trapped after the earthquake. Suharyanto, chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the rescuers are planning to use more heavy equipment to search the landslide after using maximum human power. (Photo | AP)

Many of the more than 1,000 rescuers were using backhoes, sniffer dogs and life detectors — as well as their bare hands — to search the worst-hit area of Cijendil village in mountainous Cianjur district where a landslide set off by Monday’s quake left tons of mud, rocks and broken trees.

While the magnitude would typically be expected to cause light damage to buildings and other structures, experts said proximity to fault lines, the depth of the temblor and buildings not being constructed using earthquake-proof methods were factors in the devastation. (Photo | AP)

Some of the dead were students at an Islamic boarding school while others were killed in their homes when roofs and walls fell in on them. 'The room collapsed and my legs were buried under the rubble. It all happened so fast,' 14-year-old student Aprizal Mulyadi told AFP. (Photo | AP)

The search operations were made more challenging because of severed road links and power outages in parts of the largely rural, mountainous region. (Photo | AP)

The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin known as the 'Ring of Fire.' The area spans some 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) and is where a majority of the world's earthquakes occur. (Photo | AP)

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 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia. (Photo | AP)

People ride a motorbike past a building damaged in Monday's earthquake in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo | AP)

Those who survived camped outside in near-total darkness surrounded by fallen debris, shattered glass and chunks of concrete. At a shelter in Ciherang village near Cianjur, evacuees sat on tarpaulins stretched over the cold morning ground. (Photo | AP)

Doctors treated patients outdoors at makeshift wards after the quake, which was felt as far away as the capital Jakarta. (Photo | AP)

A six-year-old boy was pulled from the rubble after spending two days trapped under debris without food or water, in a 'miracle' rescue, captured on camera. It revived hopes that survivors could still be pulled alive from the wreckage. (Photo | AP)

More than 2.5 million people live in Cianjur district, including about 175,000 in its main town, which has the same name. (Photo | AP)

President Widodo has pledged to rebuild infrastructure and provide assistance of up to 50 million rupiah ($3,180) to each resident whose house was damaged. (Photo | AFP)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo who visited Cianjur on Thursday said rescuers will focus on one location where 39 people are missing. (Photo | AFP)