Death toll from Indonesian earthquake reaches 45

The death toll from the earthquake which struck Indonesia on Wednesday has risen to 45, while dozens more people remain missing among the heavily damaged areas of West Java.

Rescue efforts continued overnight after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Indonesia, unleashing mudslides that buried villagers in their homes.

"At least 45 people have been killed so far. We are still searching for the survivors who might still be buried under their houses or buildings," Maman Susanto, a disaster management agency worker, said.

At least 110 people were taken to hospital after the quake struck just off the coast of the densely populated island of Java, with at least ten in critical condition. The tremor struck on Wednesday afternoon and caused heavy damage across the West Java province, severely damaging 18,000 homes and hundreds of offices, mosques and other buildings. Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris or collapsed walls and roofs.

A village in the Cianjur district was hit by a landslide, burying dozens of locals under tons of rock and mud. At least 10 bodies were recovered and villagers were digging in search of about 40 people listed as missing.

In Cikangkareng, about 60 miles south of Jakarta in the South Cianjur district, a landslide sent rocks cascading onto much of the village and its residents.

"Many of our young were buried by the landslide. We need food, we don't have food," said Rohim, one of the villagers.

“The earthquake was shaking everything in my house very strongly for almost a minute,” Heni Maryani, a resident in the town of Sukabumi told a local radio station. “I grabbed my children and ran out. I saw people were in panic. Women were screaming, and children were crying.”

A tsunami warning was issued after the quake struck just before 3pm (0755 GMT), but was lifted an hour later. Several dozen aftershocks were measured by geological agencies.

The prolonged shaking from the quake, which the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency put at 7.3, was felt hundreds of miles away on the resort island of Bali.

In the capital, Jakarta, 125 miles away, thousands of panicked office workers flooded out of swaying skyscrapers onto the streets. The disaster management agency said dozens of people remain missing, and there are fears that the death toll will rise.

Neighbouring countries have offered to help deal with the aftermath of the earthquake.

"We've said to the Indonesian authorities we will work with them in terms of any assistance that we can provide," Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, said.

Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's next Prime Minister after his Democratic Party of Japan's landslide election victory, said his government would provide help "regardless of any request”.

"We need to make sure there are no delays in providing aid that we would normally be able to provide because of a policy vacuum," he said.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, straddles continental plates and is prone to seismic activity along what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. A huge quake off western Indonesia caused a powerful tsunami in December 2004 that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries, half of them in the Aceh province.