More than 300 others were injured when the 7.0 magnitude temblor struck just off the island's southern coast, about 120 miles south-southeast of the capital, Jakarta.
The country’s Disaster Management Agency reported that more than 3,000 homes were heavily damaged by the shaking, which was felt as far away as the resort island of Bali, more than 400 miles to the east of the epicenter.
“Many houses are flattened to the ground,” Margamukti village resident Edi Sapuan told the Antara news agency. He said that only wooden structures were left standing after the shaking stopped.
The worst report of fatalities came from the Cianjur district village of Rawa Hideung, where approximately 30 people were buried beneath rock and dirt that cascaded upon their homes during the shaking.
"Most of them are housewives and children who were playing PlayStation in a buried house," village resident Entang Kurniawan told the country’s TVOne.
The quake struck at 2:55 p.m. local time and triggered a 3-foot tsunami near the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or damage due to the ocean surge.
Buildings in the capital of Jakarta were rocked by the quake, shattering windows and sending people running into the streets in panic.
The shaking lasted for almost a minute across Java, the heartland of Indonesia and home to 124 million residents.