Lombok lifted 10 inches by quake that killed 387
tanjung (Indonesia) — Scientists say the powerful Indonesian earthquake that killed nearly 400 people lifted the island it struck by as much as 25 centimeters (10 inches).
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that 387 people died, jumping from the 321 it reported the previous day, as search and rescue teams continued to sift through the rubble and people already buried by relatives are accounted for.
Using satellite images of Lombok from the days following the August 5 quake, scientists from Nasa and the California Institute of Technology’s joint rapid imaging project made a ground deformation map and measured changes in the island’s surface.
In the northwest of the island near the epicentre, the rupturing faultline lifted the earth by a quarter
of a meter. In other places it dropped by 5-15 centimeters (2-6 inches).
Nasa said satellite observations can help authorities respond to earthquakes and other natural or manmade disasters.
Almost 390,000 people, about 10 per cent of Lombok’s population, are homeless or displaced after the earthquake, which damaged and destroyed about 68,000 homes.
Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said three districts in the north of Lombok still haven’t received any assistance. The governor of West Nusa Tenggara province has extended the official emergency period by August 25.
“It’s estimated the death toll will continue to grow because there are still victims who are suspected of being buried by landslides and there are deaths that have not been recorded,” Nugroho said.
The number of evacuees fluctuates, he said, because not all evacuee points have been counted and some people tend to their gardens and properties during the day and return to the tent camps at night. Some people don’t need to evacuate because their homes aren’t damaged but have come to refugee centers because they feel traumatised.
Nearly a week since the 7.0 quake, Lombok is still reeling but glimmers of normality were returning for some and devout villagers are making plans for temporary replacements of mosques that were flattened.
In Tanjung, a food market opened on Saturday and locals bought vegetables and fish. Some shops also opened for business despite being in damaged buildings. —