‘I’ve never felt fear like it,’ says Irish holidaymaker
IRISH holidaymakers in Bali have described their “severe terror” as two huge earthquakes hit Indonesia.
The latest tremor, which came just a week after another quake killed 17 people on the island of Lombok, was also felt on the neighbouring resort island of Bali, where frightened tourists ran onto the streets.
Rebecca McConnell (26) has been in Bali with her partner for three weeks, taking a break from her job to travel through Asia.
Footage filmed by Ms McConnell, and viewable on Independent.ie, shows the aftermath of the earthquakes, with former structures in piles of rubble on the street, fallen trees and damaged buildings.
“I didn’t really know about the first earthquake as I was on the west coast at the time, far from where it hit,” Ms McConnell told the Irish Independent.
“However, yesterday evening, I was on the top of a bunk bed in a hostel in Kuta, south Bali. I felt the bed shake slightly at first, then increasing in strength and it hit me that it was an earthquake.”
Ms McConnell described her terrifying experience: “Severe terror entered my body and for a few seconds I was frozen, trying to remember what to do in this type of emergency. I then followed suit of the locals and headed outside the building.
“I know all earthquake routines tell you to stay inside and get under the table, but I figured the structure of this particular building did not look stable.
“The tremor lasted for around 20 seconds, then there was an aftershock around an hour or so later, which lasted for about five seconds.”
Ms McConnell said that she and her partner were on “high alert” several hours after the earthquake, as the
area they were in was under a tsunami warning.
“Being from Ireland, this was my first experience of a natural disaster and it was terrifying. I’ve never felt fear like that before.
“I made sure to message home to let my parents know I was OK, as during the previous earthquake we had no signal and they were worried sick.”
Ms McConnell said that while travelling from Kuta in south Bali to Ubud in the centre of Bali, she encountered many collapsed buildings and clean-ups in progress. “The death toll is now at 91, and I am praying for the people of Lombok.”