At least 98 dead and 20,000 homeless in Indonesia earthquake
MATARAM, Indonesia — A day after an earthquake devastated an Indonesian resort island, hundreds of tourists remained stranded, hotels were filled to capacity and rescuers continued to dig through rubble in a search for survivors.
The 7.0-magnitude temblor on the island of Lombok claimed at least 98 lives and injured another 236 people. It left at least 20,000 people homeless and sent thousands of tourists fleeing.
No tourists were reported killed. But the earthquake Sunday, which struck at 6:46 p.m. local time, was felt as far away as the neighboring island of Bali, where two people died. And it was followed by more than a dozen aftershocks, including one Monday morning that registered a magnitude of 5.4.
Long lines formed at the airport of Lombok’s main town, Mataram, as tourists cut short their holidays. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said 18 extra flights had been added for departing tourists.
“I was at the rooftop of my hotel, and the building started swaying very hard,” Gino Poggiali, a 43-year-old Frenchman who was with his wife and two children at the airport, told The Associated Press. “I could not stand up.”
The earthquake and the dozens of aftershocks that have followed have left many people jumpy and unwilling to stay indoors.
In Mataram, the main city on Lombok, which is just east of Bali, many hundreds of people slept in fields or their cars Monday evening.
Some slept in tents that are usually used by hikers who climb Mt. Rinjani, which was hit hard by a 6.4-magnitude quake on July 29. That quake killed 17 people and injured more than 160.
Some even slept in the street, thinking that would be safer than staying in their homes.
Many tourists have wanted to depart Lombok as quickly as possible but have been unable to get flights off the island.
Hotels in Mataram that were not damaged were filled to capacity Monday evening. Many people who were unable to get rooms slept in the lobbies of the larger hotels.
At Lombok International Airport, hundreds of stranded tourists slept on the floor of the terminal.