Indonesia Quake Kills At Least 19, Injures Dozens: Official
Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published August 06, 2018 | 12:36 AM
Mataram (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2018 ) , Indonesia, Aug 5 (AFP/APP):A major earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok Sunday killed at least 19 people, injured dozens and damaged buildings, officials said.
The seven-magnitude tremor struck just 10 kilometres (six miles) underground, according to the US Geological Survey.
It was followed by two light to moderate secondary quakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks.
"The latest data we have is 19 people are dead at Tanjung Hospital (North Lombok)," Agus Hendra Sanjaya, Mataram search and rescue spokesman, told AFP.
Many buildings are thought to have been damaged by the quake in Lombok's main city of Mataram, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.
"They are mostly buildings with weak construction material," Nugroho said.
Residents in Mataram described a strong jolt that sent people scrambling out of buildings.
"Everyone immediately ran out of their homes, everyone is panicking," Iman, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP.
Electricity was knocked out in several parts of the city and patients were evacuated from the main hospital, witnesses and officials said.
Pictures showed patients lying on their beds outside the clinic while doctors in blue scrubs attended to them.
Singapore's Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, who was in Lombok for a security conference when the earthquake struck, described on Facebook how his hotel room on the 10th floor shook violently.
"Walls cracked, it was quite impossible to stand up," he said.
- Airport operations normal - Officials issued a tsunami warning, which was later cancelled, but seawater poured into two villages, senior disaster agency official Dwikorita Karnawati told local tv.
The quake caused light damage as far away as the Javanesecity of Bandung, some 955 kilometres from Mataram, but was felt strongly on the neighbouring resort island of Bali.
People could be heard screaming as locals and tourists ran onto the road.
Agung Widodo, a resident of Bali's main town of Denpasar, said he felt two strong tremors.
"The first one lasted quite a while, the second one was only about two-to-five seconds. The first one was the bigger one," he told AFP.
Bali's international airport suffered damage to its terminal but the runway was unaffected and operations had returned to normal, disaster agency officials said.
Facilities at Lombok's main airport were also unaffected, although passengers were briefly evacuated from the main terminal.
Early reports suggest the quake wrecked buildings in several districts across Bali.
The tremor came a week after a shallow 6.4-magnitude quake hit Lombok, killing 17 people and damaging hundreds of buildings.
It triggered landslides that briefly trapped trekkers on popular mountain hiking routes.
Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
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.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
PTI founder acquitted in May 9 vandalism case
Liverpool confirm Slot will replace Klopp as manager
Russian playwright & director on trial for 'justifying' terrorism
Free media, responsible opposition play crucial roles in national development: S ..
AJK leaders condolence Iranian President's demise in helicopter crash
Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
Police arrest two persons in murder case
ICC seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence minister and Hamas leaders
Business community condole tragic death of Iranian President
Murad Baloch calls on Governor Balochistan
City faces heatwave, temperature soars to 43.7°C
Bhai Khan Welfare association setup heat stroke centre
More Stories From World
-
Before Raisi, other leaders killed in aviation dramas
5 hours ago -
Ukraine humanitarian aid falling while needs rise: UN
5 hours ago -
Turkish president announces day of mourning over death of Iranian president
6 hours ago -
Pope sends 'assurance of spiritual closeness' to Iran
6 hours ago -
Rafah exodus, propelled by Israeli military, passes 810,000 people, says UNRWA
6 hours ago -
US offers condolences over Raisi death
7 hours ago
-
Cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge towed to port
7 hours ago -
UN chief mourns loss of Iranian President in helicopter crash
7 hours ago -
Russian playwright & director on trial for 'justifying' terrorism
8 hours ago -
ICC seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence minister and Hamas leaders
8 hours ago -
Incredible Pakistani Awards’ conferred on 9 Pakistanis in Dubai
9 hours ago -
Dominican Republic's President Abinader wins resounding re-election
10 hours ago