14 dead and 160 injured in quake on tourist island

AN EARTHQUAKE that struck an area of Indonesia popular with British tourists has killed 14 people and injured at least 160.

Thousands of homes were damaged on the island of Lombok, with tremors from the 6.4magnitude earthquake also felt on neighbouring Bali.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of only 4.4 miles – meaning it was especially destructive.

The worst affected area was east Lombok, where ten died including a Malaysian tourist in a guesthouse, a spokesman from Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency said.

At least 162 people were injured, including 67 taken to hospital with serious injuries, he added.

The number of casualties could increase as data is still being collected from other parts of the island.

There were blackouts in east and north Lombok, and a large landslide on Mount Rinjani led to more than 800 tourists being evacuated.

In east Lombok and provincial capital Mataram, the earthquake lasted about ten seconds.

Residents fled from their homes on to the streets, with most injuries and fatalities caused by falling slabs of concrete, according to the DMA.

Like Bali, Lombok is known for its pristine beaches, coconut trees and idyllic mountainside villas.

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 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 in 14 countries – one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.