Powerful quake hits Indonesia’s Lombok, at least 14 killed
SEMBALUN, Indonesia — A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the popular tourist island of Lombok in Indonesia on Sunday killing 14 people and sending villagers fleeing from their beds into open fields to avoid collapsing buildings.
The quake, which rocked the island early in the morning while people were still asleep, also left 162 injured.
Electicity was cut off in the worst-hit area, Sembalun, a sparsely populated area of rice paddies and the slopes of Mount Rinjani on the northern side of the island.
President Joko Widodo issued an order to deliver aid in West Nusa Tenggara province and planned to visit the area on Monday, a presidential aide said.
A 30-year-old Malaysian woman visiting Mount Rinjani, a popular trekking destination, was among those killed, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the the disaster mitigation agency spokesman.
He said the area was temproarily closed to climbers because there were reports of landslides.
“People are gathering on the streets and empty fields to avoid collapsing buildings,” he said. “The main focus now is evacuation and rescue. Some of the injured are still being treated at clinics.”
An emergency tent was set up on a street in Sembalun to treat the injured because the local hospital was damaged, and those in a critical condition were taken to other hospitals.
“It happened so suddenly, at around 6 in the morning. Suddenly everything simply collapsed,” said Siti Sumarni, a Sembalun resident. “My child was inside the house, thankfully he survived.”
Standing outside a green tent set up on a dusty field, she said nothing was left of her house.
Video footage showed ambulances lining the streets of Lombok and many houses damaged with only parts of brick walls standing.
“We jumped out of our beds to avoid anything falling on our heads,” said Jean-Paul Volckaert, who runs a hotel near Senggigi on the western side of Lombok.
“I’ve been walking around but so far there is no damage. We were very surprised as the water in the pools was swaying like a wild sea. There were waves in the pools but only for 20 to 30 seconds,” he said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage.
The Lombok quake struck at 6:47 am local time on Sunday and was only 7 kilometers deep, a depth that would have amplified its effect.
It was centred 50 km northeast of the city of Mataram, according to the US Geological Survey, but it was also felt strongly to the west on the neighbouring island of Bali, Indonesia’s top tourist destination.
Nearly 80 subsequent tremors were recorded, with the largest aftershock recorded at magnitude 5.7, Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency said.
The earthquake was on land and did not trigger any waves or tsunamis.