The death toll from the earthquake that hit Yogyakarta last Saturday has risen to 5,135 this afternoon, according to Bernama.

Based on statistics available at the Yogyakarta Disaster Handling Centre, the quake, which was registered there as 5.9 on the Richter scale, had also destroyed more than 45,000 houses and other buildings and left more than 200,000 people homeless.

Several foreign geological agencies had recorded the intensity of the quake, which struck at 5.55 am on Saturday, at 6.2 on the Richter scale.

In the two days following the quake, more than 500 aftershocks were recorded by the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG), out of which about 10 were felt by the people.

Indonesian media reported that most of the quake victims putting up in temporary tents were in dire need of food, clean drinking water, mats and bedding, rainproof tents, milk powder for infants, and clothes.

Victims were asleep

Indonesian authorities have begun to channel immediate aid to the victims while relief supplies from several countries have begun to arrive.

Volunteers from several provinces had also descended on Yogyakarta to help police and soldiers in the search and rescue of people suspected to be trapped in the rubble of houses and other buildings.

It is believed that many people could not escape from their dwellings before their collapse as they were sleeping when the quake hit.

A resident of Yogyakarta, Agus Priyanto, told Bernama that the people had been preparing themselves for the eventual eruption of Mt Merapi, which has been spewing ash and lava lately, and had not given a thought to a possible earthquake.

"We were also not told about any possible earthquake because the authorities themselves did not have any indication of it," he said by telephone.