CIANJUR, Indonesia: On Wednesday, traumatized families awaited word on the fate of loved ones missing after an earthquake rocked a town in Indonesia's West Java on Monday, with additional heavy gear dispatched to clear landslides that had buried communities.

The casualty toll from Monday's 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Cianjur has risen as the full nature of the devastation has become clear. Authorities say 268 people have been confirmed dead, up from roughly 160 on Tuesday, while more than 150 are still missing.

The focus of Wednesday's recovery activities will be Cugenang, one of Cianjur's worst-hit districts, where at least one community is said to have been buried by a landslide.

Videos from the region show locals using hoes, sticks, crowbars, and other equipment or just their bare hands to dig in the brown ground.

The landslide made the situation worse, according to Zainuddin, who was looking for six missing relatives. "If it were only an earthquake, only the houses would collapse," he added.

Eight houses were located in this neighborhood, and they were all carried away and buried.

Over a thousand police officers have been sent to help search and rescue teams.

Indonesia is one of the most earthquake-prone nations on earth and regularly records stronger offshore earthquakes. But Monday's 5.6-magnitude quake was particularly deadly as it struck a densely populated area at a shallow depth of just 10 km (6 miles).