Second powerful earthquake in a week strikes Indonesian island

A POWERFUL magnitude-7.0 earthquake yesterday struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, killing 82 people. A tsunami warning was triggered, but later cancelled.

The tremor came just a week after another quake killed 17 people on the island and prompted people to flee to higher land. It was also felt on the neighbouring island of Bali. The earthquake struck just six miles underground, according to the US Geological Survey, and was followed by two aftershocks.

Lombok is a popular tourist destination, drawing in visitors thanks to its surfing, beaches and hiking trails. The earthquake of last week triggered landslides that briefly trapped trekkers on popular mountain hiking routes.

Najmul Akhyar, district chief of North Lombok, said that he was unable to assess the entire situation due to an electrical blackout, but that at least three people had been killed.

Christine Teigen, the television host, who was in Bali with her husband John Legend, the singer, and their two young children, tweeted: “Bali. Trembling. So long.” She added: “Oh man. We are on stilts. It felt like a ride.” Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the agency for meteorology, climatology and geophysics, advised people not to panic, saying: “Please go to a place with higher ground, while remaining calm.”

A nearby volcano was evacuated after the earthquake struck. Many buildings were thought to have been damaged in Lombok’s main city of Mataram, mostly those made from weak materials, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency.

Residents in Mataram felt a strong jolt, causing them to flee their buildings.

“Everyone immediately ran out of their homes, everyone is panicking,” Iman, a local resident, told AFP.

Rita Siswati, another local, told AFP the tremor had caused a power outage, and said patients were being evacuated from the main hospital. Indonesia straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide, making the nation one of the most disaster prone in the world.

In 2004, a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.