Locals caught in quake
Geelong holiday-makers run from hotels as dozens die in Indonesia
A DEADLY magnitude-7 earthquake which struck Indonesia on Sunday night terrified locals, sent people running into streets and reduced buildings to rubble, holiday-makers from Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula say.
The quake — the second in a week — which hit the island of Lombok had claimed 91 lives when the Geelong Advertiser went to print and injured hundreds more, according to Indonesian authorities.
Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo estimated about 1000 people were evacuated from the Gili islands near Lombok in the aftermath of the quake.
But the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there were no Australians killed or injured.
Twenty aftershocks were recorded in the two hours after the quake, according to Indonesia’s BMKG (the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency).
Emma Hergstrom, who grew up in Highton and is holidaying in southern Bali with her partner and young son, said she ran from her hotel when the quake hit.
“At first we thought a bomb had gone off and what we were feeling was an explosion,” Ms Hergstrom said.
“My partner grabbed the pram from me and said ‘run’. About 30 of us were running away from the front of the building.
“The adrenaline kicked in and instinct told us we weren’t safe until a man yelled earthquake.”
Bannockburn resident Mikayla Hoffman, on her first trip to Bali, said she was at dinner the time the earthquake struck.
“It was crazy. So scary and even scarier because the local staff were scared,” Ms Hoffman said. “The ground started to shake a little then we looked at the lights and they were shaking like crazy.”
The 23-year-old said staff at the DEUS restaurant, about 15km west of Denpasar, were “freaking out” due to the magnitude of the earthquake.
“Everyone started running to the middle of the beer garden so that if anything fell it wouldn’t land on us. It lasted about 40 seconds but the worst of it about 10 seconds.”
Queenscliff resident Alex Baker, in Bali with parents Rod and Jo, said his mum comforted a local worker in the minutes after the quake.
“One of the ladies in the massage place we were in, she was upset and crying and my mum was consoling her,” he said.
A Leopold resident holidaying in Legian near Kuta said some locals were scared to return to their homes in the aftermath of the quake.
If you have any concerns about someone in Indonesia contact the Department of Foreign Affairs emergency helpline on 1300 555 135.