Indonesia
earthquake leaves at least 82 dead in Lombok, Bali as residents flee
- Many victims from northern, western parts of Lombok
- US Geological Survey recorded the quake at magnitude-7
- A magnitude-6.4 quake hit Lombok on July 29, killing 17 people
ABC,
6
August, 2018
A strong earthquake has struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, killing at least 82 people and shaking neighbouring Bali, one week after another quake on Lombok killed more than a dozen.
A strong earthquake has struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, killing at least 82 people and shaking neighbouring Bali, one week after another quake on Lombok killed more than a dozen.
The
magnitude-7 quake struck at a depth of 15 kilometres early on Sunday
evening in the northern part of Lombok, triggering a brief tsunami
warning and damaging buildings as far away as Denpasar in Bali. It
was followed by aftershocks as strong as magnitude-5.4.
On
Lombok, thousands fled from their homes to gather for safety in open
spaces, but a tsunami warning was lifted after waves just 15
centimetres high were recorded in three villages.
The
ABC's Indonesia correspondent David Lipson said a witness on the
nearby Gili Islands reported thousands of people fleeing to higher
ground.
LOMBOK QUAKE: A source on the ground in the Gili Islands says around 3,000 people fled to high ground... huddled in the dark, frightened, some wearing life jackets and praying after each aftershock.
There
are also reports of fatalities on the Gili Islands, situated off
Lombok's north-west coast.
I’m hearing reports of bodies in the streets on Gili Islands. One Aussie I’ve been in contact with is stranded. The jetty is destroyed #lombokearthquake
National
Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 65 of
the deaths were in North Lombok district, nine in West Lombok
district, four in the provincial capital Mataram and two each in
Central Lombok and East Lombok districts.
Thousands
of houses were damaged, and most of those killed were hit by
collapsed houses, he said.
Prime
Minister Malcolm Turnbull is contacting the Indonesian President
today to offer Australia's help to cope with the earthquake.
"We
always reach out to our neighbours when natural disasters strike,"
he said.
Mr
Turnbull said there were no reports at this stage of Australians
being injured by the quake.
"Obviously
Australians have been affected, they felt the shock, including
Minister Peter Dutton who was at a counter-terrorism conference in
Lombok," he said.
"There
are a lot of Australians in Indonesia at any time, so our consular
services will be doing everything they can to ascertain the safety of
Australians."
Mr
Dutton said his delegation was safe but had to be evacuated from its
hotel.
"Very
grateful to Indonesian police and authorities and the AFP," he
tweeted.
Australian delegation is safe and is evacuated from hotel. Very grateful to Indonesian police and authorities and the AFP. We are not yet aware of the extent of the damage, but thoughts and prayers are with those impacted.
Australia's
consul-general to Bali Helena Studdert said Australians should follow
the instructions of local authorities during the emergency.
'We
need to get out of here'
"As
the quake happened, we were sitting in the Trattoria Restaurant when
the table began to sway," Mr Finlayson said.
"A
few muted screams came from around us and we said, 'It's an
earthquake — we need to get out of here'.
"We
were the first out and the rest of the diners spilled out onto the
street … It only lasted a few seconds but it shook us all up in
every way with a young woman sobbing [nearby] and [being] supported
by her family.
"The
locals also seemed a bit disturbed although it was business as usual.
Cars and scooters continued on the street outside seemingly oblivious
to the interruption to the ground and life on top of it."
Singapore
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who was in the Lombok town
of Mataram at the time of the quake, wrote on Facebook that his
10th-floor hotel room shook violently and walls cracked.
"It
was quite impossible to stand up. Heard screams," he wrote.
"Came
out, and made my way down a staircase, while building was still
shaking. Power went out for a while. Lots of cracks, fallen doors."
On
Lombok, soldiers and other rescuers carried injured people on
stretchers and carpets to an evacuation centre.
Authorities
shared footage of locals being evacuated from the Gili Islands by
boat.
"I
was watching TV when I felt a big shake," said Harian, a Lombok
woman who uses one name.
"The
lamp was shaking and people were shouting, 'Get out'. I ran out into
the dark because the power cut off."
The
quake was felt for several seconds in Bali, where people ran out of
houses, hotels and restaurants.
"All
the hotel guests were running so I did too. People filled the
streets," said Michelle Lindsay, an Australian tourist.
"A
lot of officials were urging people not to panic."
Najmul
Akhyar, district chief of North Lombok, told MetroTV there was an
electrical blackout so he was unable to assess the entire situation,
but that at least three people had been killed.
Iwan
Asmara, a Lombok disaster official, said people poured out of their
homes in panic to move to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok
and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, which
includes Lombok.
Lombok
and Bali airports affected
The
Bali and Lombok airports continued operating on Sunday night,
according to the director general of civil aviation.
There
had been a half hour evacuation at the Lombok airport following the
quake because the electricity went off. TV showed crying women
consoling each other outside the airport.
There
was also damage at Bali airport.
This
morning, tourists queued at the airport on Lombok looking to get away
from the devastation, but some said there were no flights off the
island for several days.
Two
quakes in a week
A
magnitude 6.4 quake hit Lombok on July 29, killing 17 people.
Like
Bali, Lombok is known for pristine beaches and mountains. Hotels and
other buildings in both locations are not allowed to exceed the
height of coconut palms.
Indonesia
is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring
of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific
Basin.
In
December 2004, a massive, magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island
triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
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