All flights to, from Yogyakarta airport suspended

With the death toll in Saturday morning's powerful earthquake recorded at more than 300, all flights to and from Adi Sucipto Airport in Yogyakarta were suspended following damage to the airport's facilities.

No passengers were at the airport and only security officers could be seen, Antara news agency reported from Yogyajakarta.

Reliable sources said the suspension would last until 10 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) but there was no information whether the remaining flights would be diverted to nearby airports in Solo or Semarang. However, reports said that most of the flights to and from Yogyakarta were diverted to Adi Sumarno airport in Solo.

Besides more than 300 fatalities, thousands of others were injured in the earthquake that flattened a multitude of houses and office buildings in the city of Yogyakarta.

Hundreds of people were seen fled as their homes collapsed around them after the quake struck early in the morning.

Electricity and communications across the city were also down.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia's ancient royal capital and one of its biggest cities, is about 440 km south-east of the capital, Jakarta.

The death toll rose steadily as hospitals around Yogyakarta reported a growing number of fatalities.

Indonesia is in a zone known as the Pacific "ring of fire", which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Meanwhile, Volcanological Research and Technological Development Agency (BPPTK) chief Purbo said the earthquake was triggered by the friction of earth layer and not by the coughing Merapi volcano.

However, the quake was feared to trigger the volcanic activity of Merapi because when the earthquake occurred, Merapi spewed massive clouds of hot gas into the air.

Source: Xinhua