The

death

toll from the powerful earthquake that struck the western Java province of Indonesia yesterday rises again

.

At least 252 people

were killed , including

31 people reported missing

, according to local authorities

.

Rescuers searched for

survivors

buried under the rubble, while relatives began burying their loved ones.

As body bags emerged from collapsed buildings in Indonesia's most populous province of West Java, relief efforts turned to any survivors still under the

rubble

in areas made difficult to reach by the mass of roadblocks hurled by the quake. 

The epicenter of Monday's 5.6-magnitude quake was near the city of Cianjur

, the hardest-hit area, with the most deaths, hundreds injured, and dozens feared trapped by collapsing buildings. and the triggering of landslides.