Powerful earthquake hits Indonesia

Earlier today, a major earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Indonesian island of Java. Although the tremor was centered 120 miles southeast of Jakarta — Mercy Corps' headquarters in Indonesia — the city felt a significant jolt. Jakarta's central business district was evacuated as buildings swayed, and traffic came to an hours-long halt.

This morning, I spoke with one of our field staff who was working in another part of the city when the earthquake hit. She reported that the tremor was strong, but no one around her was injured.

All of our staff members in Indonesia have been accounted for.

The casualties currently stand at 42 dead and more than 300 injured, with strong indications that the numbers will rise. While it seems that the rescue and relief efforts of the Indonesian government and some of our colleague agencies are meeting the needs of survivors, we will continue to closely monitor the situation to see how we can help.