At least 10 dead after Indonesian earthquake

A powerful magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck the popular Indonesian tourist destination of Lombok, killing 10 people and injuring forty, the country’s disaster mitigation agency says.

The quake damaged dozens of single-storey houses and taller buildings and was felt in a wider area, including in Bali, where no damage or casualties were reported.

It hit the northern part of Lombok island early on Sunday morning when many people were still sleeping.

The quake, which was quickly followed by an aftershock of magnitude-5.4 in the same area, was centerd 50 kilometres north-east of the city of Mataram, the US Geological Survey said.

Disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the number of casualties could increase as information is still being collected from across the island. Mr Nugroho said the earthquake also triggered a large landslide from Mount Rinjani, a popular trekking destination.

[Reuters/AP]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.