Rescue workers continue to search for survivors, but many rural areas are still in need of help [AFP]

Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue workers on Friday continued to search for dozens of people buried under rubble on the Indonesian island of Java following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

In Pangalengan, one of the worst hit provinces, hundreds of people were spending the night in tents.

"There is a soccer field full of tents for about 500-700 people," Trihadi Saptoadi, who heads the Indonesian branch of the Christian charity World Vision, said.

He said that electricity was still cut off and there was a shortage of water and food.

Children buried

Elsewhere, aid workers scrambled to reach 13 children buried in a video games arcade after a landslide, triggered by the earthquake, hit the village of Cikangkaren, about 100km south of Jakarta.

Agus Sobari, one of the rescue workers, said that 37 people were still missing in Cikangkareng, including the 13 children.

"Their parents are still waiting at the scene, hoping we will find the bodies," he said.

About 10,000 homes, offices, schools and mosques were destroyed on the western side of densely populated Java.

In many affected areas the Red Cross and other disaster relief agencies set up hundreds of tents and provided medical assistance to the injured.

The health ministry, which is distributing provisions, blankets and medicine, said that many remote areas had not received enough help.

At least 125 people have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries, according to Rustam Pakay, the health ministry's crisis centre chief.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, straddles continental plates and is prone to seismic activity along what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

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