Indonesian rescue workers were racing on Tuesday to reach people still trapped in rubble a day after an earthquake devastated a West Java town, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise.

The epicentre of the shallow 5.6-magnitude quake hit on land close to the town of Cianjur in a mountainous area of Indonesia’s most populous province. The tremor on Monday afternoon prompted panicked residents to flee onto the streets as buildings collapsed.

Many of the fatalities were caused by falling buildings, the head of Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said in a statement.

Overnight a hospital parking lot in Cianjur was inundated with victims, some treated in makeshift tents, others hooked up to intravenous drips on the pavement, while medical workers stitched up patients under the light of torches.

“Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child,” Cucu, a 48-year-old resident, told Reuters, from the crowded hospital parking area.

“Two of my kids survived, I dug them up … Two others I brought here, and one is still missing,” she said through tears.

On Tuesday morning, hundreds of police officers had been deployed to assist in rescue efforts, Dedi Prasetyo, national police spokesperson told the Antara state news agency.

“Today’s main task order for personnel is to focus on evacuating victims,” he said.​​

At least 162 people were killed in Monday’s quake, many of them children, with more than 300 injured, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said, warning some residents remained trapped in isolated places.

Authorities were operating “under the assumption that the number of injured and death will rise with time”, he said.

“The challenge is the affected area is spread out … On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged,” Henri Alfiandi, head of National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), told a news conference.

“Most of the casualties are children, because at 1 p.m. they were still at school,” he said of the time the quake hit.

Basarnas confirmed that 162 people had died and more than 13,000 people had been evacuated.

The national disaster agency (BNPB) said 62 people were killed, and it was yet to verify the 100 additional victims.

Cianjur police chief told Metro TV news channel that 20 people had been evacuated from Cugenang so far, most of whom had died, with residents still reporting missing family members.

The area was hit by a landslide triggered by the quake that had blocked access to the area on Monday.

Rescue efforts were complicated by electricity outages in some areas, and 117 aftershocks.

The earthquake, which struck at a depth of just 10 km (6.2 miles) and was felt strongly in the capital Jakarta about 75 km away, damaged at least 2,200 homes and displaced more than 5,000 people, the BNPB said.

Straddling the so-called “Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone where different plates on the earth’s crust meet, Indonesia has a history of devastating earthquakes.

In 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off Sumatra island in northern Indonesia triggered a tsunami that struck 14 countries, killing 226,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline, more than half of them in Indonesia.

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A decorated Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who had taken his family to support a drag show performer who was one of his daughter’s friends said his U.S. Army training took over when gunfire broke out at a Colorado LGBTQ club.

“It’s the reflex,” Rich Fierro told reporters gathered on the snow-covered front yard of his suburban Colorado Springs home Monday evening. “Go. Go to the fire. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don’t let no one get hurt.”

Fierro described grabbing the suspect by the armor the gunman was wearing, dragging him down and using the shooter’s pistol to beat him late Saturday after five people were killed and at least 17 wounded. The dead included the boyfriend of Fierro’s daughter, identified by Colorado Springs police as Raymond Green Vance.

At an earlier news conference, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers had identified Fierro as one of “two heroes,” along with Thomas James, who “saved a lot of lives” at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

Fierro said many others deserved credit, including a young man who had been dancing with his daughter and dragged her to safety when the shooting started, and a drag performer who kicked the gunman with her high heels as Fierro held him down.

“I’m not a hero,” Fierro said. “I’m just some dude.”

Officials did not elaborate on the men’s actions, and Fierro’s comments provided details investigators have not spoken about. Fierro said he was detained for about an hour by police who found him with a pistol in his hand in the confused aftermath of the shooting.

He mourned his daughter’s boyfriend, who he said he had known since his daughter was in high school.

“He’s a good kid. And I loved him,” Fierro said.

The wounded included a couple, close friends of Fierro who have two young children.

“I wish I could have saved everybody in there,” Fierro said. “I wish I could have done more.”

Fierro and his wife Jess Fierro own a Colorado Springs brewery. Their Atrevida Beer Company was closed on Monday as family members gathered at their home in a quiet Colorado Springs suburb to mourn.

Jess Fierro had said earlier that her husband’s hands, knees and an ankle were injured in the struggle with the gunman.

Speaking from her doorstep, Jess Fierro told Reuters the violence sparked her husband’s post traumatic stress disorder.

Rich Fierro served 14 years in the military and was awarded the Bronze Star twice as he served as a field artillery officer during three tours of Iraq and a tour of Afghanistan, U.S. Army records show.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday visits the Philippine island of Palawan in the South China Sea, part of a three-day trip to an Asian ally that is central to America’s bid to counter China’s increasingly assertive stance in the region.

Beijing claims almost all the South China Sea, which is believed to contain massive oil and gas deposits and through which billions of dollars in trade passes each year.

Harris pledged on Monday the United States would defend the Philippines if it came under attack in the waterway, reaffirming Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to its former colony.

Her comments followed a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who welcomed Harris for the first time at the Philippine presidential palace.

Marcos said the two nations’ strong ties had become even more important, given what he called “upheavals” in the region.

Harris’ visit to the Philippines, the highest-level trip to the Philippines by a Biden administration official, is seen as part of Washington’s effort to revive ties with Manila, which moved closer to China under former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We stand with you in defence of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea,” Harris told Marcos.

A 2016 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in the Hague said Beijing’s South China Sea claims had no legal basis, delivering a victory for Manila.

The Philippines has been unable to enforce the ruling and has since filed hundreds of protests over what it calls encroachment and harassment by China’s coastguard and its vast fishing fleet.

While in Palawan, Harris will also reaffirm Washington’s support for the 2016 tribunal ruling, a U.S. official said.

Palawan is only about 320 km (200 miles) from the Spratly islands, where China has dredged the sea floor to build harbours and airstrips. Parts of the archipelago are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The vice president will visit a fishing village and tour a Philippine coast guard vessel during her trip, said a U.S. official, on condition of anonymity.

The visit comes with U.S.-Sino tensions high, particularly over Taiwan, the democratically governed island China has long vowed to bring under its control.

“We are not against the U.S.’s interaction with regional countries,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning when asked to comment about Harris’ visit to Palawan. “But it should be good for regional peace and stability and not damaging to other countries’ interests.”

Illustrating tensions in the area, China denied on Monday that one of its coastguard ships used force to retrieve a piece of a rocket floating in the ocean that was being towed by a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea.

A Philippine military commander said the Chinese coastguard ship “forcefully retrieved” the object by cutting a line attaching it to a Philippine boat.

Dozens of protesters rallied in Manila on Monday against the visit by Harris, saying they did not want the Philippines to be caught between U.S. and Chinese rivalry.

Washington and the Philippines have moved ahead with an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), dating from the Obama administration, though it languished under Duterte.

EDCA allows the United States to maintain a military presence, but not a permanent one, through the rotation of ships and aircraft for humanitarian and maritime security operations at mutually agreed Philippine bases.

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The United States continues to oppose any military action that destabilizes the situation in Syria, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday, adding that Washington has communicated its serious concerns to Ankara over the impact of such an offensive on the goal to fight against Islamic State.

“We have urged Turkey against such operations, just as we have urged our Syrian partners against attacks or escalation,” a Department spokesperson said in emailed responses to questions.

“We continue to oppose any military action that destabilizes the situation in Syria or violates Iraq’s sovereignty through military actions uncoordinated with the Iraqi government. We also oppose the recent attacks into southern Turkey that have reportedly led to the deaths of multiple civilians,” the spokesperson said.