At least 98 dead after quake slams Indonesian island

A powerful earthquake flattened houses and toppled bridges on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, killing at least 98 people and shaking neighbouring Bali, as authorities said Monday that rescuers still hadn’t reached some devastated areas and the death toll would climb.

According to AP news, it was the second deadly quake in a week to hit Lombok. A July 29 quake killed 16 people and damaged hundreds of houses, some of which collapsed in Sunday evening’s magnitude 7.0 temblor, killing those inside.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference that damage was “massive” in northern Lombok. In several districts, more than half the homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

The ruins of a mosque that collapsed in Lading-Lading village while people prayed inside was being pulled apart by a backhoe in search of victims.

Some areas still hadn’t been reached as of midafternoon, with rescuers battling collapsed bridges, electricity and communication blackouts and damaged roads blocked with debris.

Nugroho said the death toll had risen to 98, after warning earlier that it would “definitely increase.” More than 230 people were seriously injured. Thousands of homes and buildings were damaged and 20,000 people were in temporary shelters.

ALSO READ: At least seven killed, 67 missing after quake rocks Taiwan tourist area

The quake, measured at magnitude 7.0 by Indonesian authorities and 6.9 by the United States Geological Survey, struck at a shallow depth of 10.5 kilometers (6 miles) in the northern part of Lombok. Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.

“We were sitting there having dinner at about 7 o’clock last night, we just felt a really big sort of shaking and the lights went off and everyone just ran,” Australian tourist Kim Liebelt said as he waited with other travelers for a flight out at Lombok’s international airport.

“And then the roof started falling down on us, rocks and rubble and then just everyone running to get away,” he said.

Videos showed screaming people running in panic from a shopping mall and a neighbourhood in Bali where parked vehicles swayed. On Lombok, soldiers and other rescuers carried injured people on stretchers and carpets to evacuation centres. Many victims were treated outdoors because hospitals were damaged.

“People panicked and scattered on the streets, and buildings and houses that had been damaged by the previous earthquake had become more damaged and collapsed,” Nugroho said.

The quake triggered a tsunami warning, and frightened people poured out of their homes to move to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province. The warning was lifted later Sunday after only small waves were recorded.