Powerful quake rocks Indonesian tourist island, 82 dead

An shallow natural disaster measuring 7.0 struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Lombok on Sunday, killing dozens of people and injuring many more, authorities said on Monday.

There was two more strong secondary quakes and more than 60 aftershocks.

Officials issued a tsunami warning after the quake, but it was later cancelled.

The magnitude 7.0 quake centered on northern Lombok struck early Sunday evening and was also felt strongly in neighboring Bali, where it damaged buildings.

Not less than 17 people were reported dead due to the 6.4 magnitude natural disaster leaving damaged buildings in hundreds of numbers besides triggering landslides that trapped trekkers on popular mountain hiking routes. It triggered landslides that briefly trapped trekkers on popular mountain hiking routes.

TRT World speaks with journalist Kanupriya Kapoor, who is reporting from Lombok, on how some locals in the affected areas are having to fend for themselves.

Airports in both Lombok and Bali are still operational, House of Travel product and channel director Dave Fordyce said. Since the quake last week there have been hundreds of aftershocks, 44 of which could be felt.

“Bali. Trembling. So long”, Teigen tweeted Sunday.

The worldwide airport of Bali suffered damage to its terminal but the runway was still unaffected and other operations had returned to normal, as reported by disaster agency officials.

A second powerful natural disaster has struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, less than a week after the first.

“People were just throwing their suitcases on board and I had to struggle to get my husband on, because he was bleeding”, she said.

The travel agency is working with customers now in or set to travel to Lombok to help them adjust and rebook their travel arrangements, she said.

“We were knocked certainly to the floor”, he told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.

The Minister, who is attending a security conference in Mataram, Lombok, described the situation in an update on Monday.

“I guess the question for the Balinese people who rely very heavily on tourism is, is the combination of all these factors adding in the terrorism risk, is that enough to deter people and I guess we really don’t know the answer to that question”.

There had been a half-hour evacuation at the Lombok airport following the quake because the electricity went off. TV showed crying women consoling each other outside Lombok’s airport.

Indonesia sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and is regularly hit by earthquakes. In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.