New tremors hit quake island

THE tourist island of Lombok has been hit by more tremors only two weeks after a massive earthquake killed 460 people.

The north-east of the Indonesian island was first rocked by a 6.3-magnitude quake, said the US Geological Survey.

The powerful tremor was felt on the neighboring island of Bali and caused landslides on the slopes of Mount Rinjani and panic among local villages.

‘It was very strong. All the lights went out,’ said Asmaatul Husna at the shopping mall where she works in Lombok’s main town, Mataram. Video shot by the Indonesian Red Cross showed huge clouds of dust billowing from the mountain’s slopes.

So far there have been no reports of injuries or deaths. It was later followed by an even stronger tremor – measured at 6.9.

A magnitude 7.0 quake on August 5 killed 460 people, damaged tens of thousands of homes and displaced several hundred thousand people on Lombok.

Yet another strong earthquake struck Lombok last night – a magnitude 6.9 quake – but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.