Multiple earthquakes – including a powerful and shallow 6.9-magnitude tremor – have rocked the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, killing at least five people and setting off fresh waves of panic.
A series of quakes were recorded by seismologists throughout Sunday, the first measuring 6.3 shortly before midday which triggered landslides and sent people fleeing for cover.
It was followed nearly twelve hours later by a quake measuring 6.9 and at least five more significant aftershocks, according to the US Geological Survey.
The picturesque island is already reeling from two devastating quakes on Jul 29 and Aug 5 that killed nearly 500 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.
Local disaster agency spokesman Agung Pramuja said five people were killed by the quake late Sunday evening, two in eastern Lombok and three on the neighbouring island of Sumbawa.
“So far five people died and scores of people are injured. We are still collecting data on the exact number,” Pramuja told AFP Monday.
Officials have evacuated a number of patients from a hospital in Sumbawa island for fear of worse destruction.
Blackouts had hit much of Lombok, according to a spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, who posted pictures of cracked roads and video footage of a large fire that broke out in a village on Sumbawa.
Kondisi jalan retak-retak di Pelabuhan Kayangan Lombok Utara akibat gempa 7 SR pada 19/8/2018. Kerasnya guncangan gempa menyebabkan kerusakan bangunan, longsor di perbukitan dan listrik padam. Komunikasi masih belum dapat dilakukan dengan petugas di Lombok Timur. pic.twitter.com/vO5OZyjjhG
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) August 19, 2018
Kebakaran melanda permukiman di Desa Bungin Pulau Bungin Kabupaten Sumbawa NTB. Kebakaran disebabkan adanya rumah roboh saat gempa 7 SR kemudian rumah terbakar. pic.twitter.com/gbjsgtvz6j
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) August 19, 2018
Source: Channel News Asia
Photo courtesy of Getty Images