Death toll in Indonesia earthquake rises to 44

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Java on Wednesday has risen to 44.

MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Java on Wednesday has risen to 44, over 300 people were injured, emergencies services said.

Some 40 people are feared buried under a mudslide and several thousand homes and other buildings were severely damaged in the West Java and Central Java provinces.

Indonesia's Social Affairs Ministry said Wednesday that the quake, which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck at 2:55 p.m. local time [GMT 07:55] some 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Bandung.

Some 5,000 people were reported evacuated in the southwest of the island, and five regions left without electricity.

RIA Novosti's correspondent in Jakarta said Wednesday the earthquake was felt in the capital, where a number of buildings were evacuated during the quake. The Health Ministry said at least 27 were injured in Jakarta.

Each year, close to 7,000 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or higher are registered in Indonesia.