We demonstrated lasing in localized modes of an optimized photonic amorphous structure with short-range order. The InGaAsP multiple quantum wells embedded in a free-standing InGaAsP slab were employed as an active medium by optical pumping at room temperature. The high index contrast between air and InGaAsP, combined with uniformity of local topology and short-range order, enables strong confinement of light via multiple scattering. We confirmed the characteristic of lasing modes in the complex geometry with numerical simulations based on the real images of fabricated samples. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4748109]