Two people were killed and seven others injured after a powerful earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Java, a disaster management official confirmed Saturday. The fatalities occurred when two elderly women were hit by debris from their houses in separate locations on Java island during the late Friday quake, according to National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho. Sutopo said about 70 patients in a general hospital in Banyumas district were also evacuated after its ceilings collapsed, walls cracked and oxygen pipes leaked. "Several hospitals were damaged so patients had to be treated outside," he said. At least 108 houses across Java were damaged or collapsed, he added. The quake struck 300 metres east-south-east of Cipatujah, a coastal district in West Java, at 11:47 pm (1647 GMT), according to the United States Geological Survey. It took place at a depth of 91 kilometres. Indonesia's Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) put the magnitude of the quake at 6.9 on the Richter scale. A tsunami warning issued by the agency was later withdrawn.
