Motorists ride past houses heavily damaged by an earthquake in North Lombok, Indonesia. Photos / AP
Motorists ride past houses heavily damaged by an earthquake in North Lombok, Indonesia. Photos / AP
Thousands left homeless by a powerful quake that ruptured roads and flattened buildings on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok are sheltering in makeshift tents.
Authorities said rescuers hadn't yet reached all devastated areas and expect the toll of 98 dead to climb.
It was the second deadly quake in a week to hit Lombok, a less-developed island compared with its more famous neighbour Bali, where the strong tremors caused panic and damaged buildings.
A July 29 quake killed 16 people and damaged hundreds of houses on Lombok, some of which collapsed in yesterday's quake, measured at magnitude 7.0 by Indonesian authorities and 6.9 by the US Geological Survey.
Damage was "massive" in mountainous northern Lombok, where the quake was centered, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. In several districts, more than half the homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
A large mosque collapsed on worshippers in northern Lombok's Lading-Lading village, and rescuers used a backhoe to search the debris. The number of victims was unknown.
Some areas still hadn't been reached 24 hours after the quake because of collapsed bridges, blocked and ruptured roads and the loss of power and communications.
Nugroho said the death toll had risen to 98 and warned it will continue to increase. All but two of were killed on Lombok; the others died on Bali.
More than 230 people were seriously injured. Thousands of homes and buildings were damaged and those displaced camped wherever they could — in sports fields and on roadsides, cobbling together ramshackle shelters and building campfires for warmth.
Sahril, who uses one name, said he escaped his collapsing house in North Lombok with his immediate family, but his older brother is buried in his flattened home in the village of Cubek.
A doctor examines children injured in the earthquake at a makeshift hospital in Tanjung on Lombok.
"He was serving customers when the earthquake happened. The customers managed to escape, but he himself didn't," Sahril said. "His two-storey house collapsed and buried him. He had no chance to scream (for) help."
The quake struck at a shallow depth of 10.5km. 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 travellers 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 centre and a neighbourhood in Bali where parked vehicles swayed. On Lombok, soldiers and other rescuers carried the injured on stretchers and carpets. Many were treated outdoors because hospitals were damaged.
Tourists affected by a strong earthquake line up on a beach as they wait to be evacuated on Gili Trawangan Island, Indonesia.
"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 rushed from their homes to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province. The warning was lifted after only small waves were recorded.
"When it happened, we stood with residents in the middle of the street and watched houses collapse around us," said Yustrianda Sirio, supervisor of a group of university students from Java doing a community service programme in East Lombok. "Many of us screamed hysterically."
He said the group already had been staying in tents after the July 29 quake, but now officials told them to return to Java.
"We really want to stay here to help the villagers," he said.
A resident takes usable items from a mosque damaged by earthquake in North Lombok.
On Gili Trawangan, one of three popular holiday islands near Lombok, thousands of tourists and residents spent a night on a hill because of tsunami fears, said British visitor Saffron Amis.
"There was a lot of screaming and crying, particularly from the locals," said Amis, from Brighton. "We spoke to a lot of them and they were panicking about their family in Lombok. It was just a lot of panic because no one knew what was happening."
Later yesterday, with electricity off and hotels and hostels damaged, thousands were desperate to leave.
Hundreds packed a sliver of brilliant white sand beach on the 16 sq km Trawangan Island, shouting at rescue personnel trying to ensure an orderly evacuation, according to video and photos from the local water police.
Authorities deployed ships to evacuate people from the three islands. About 2700 had left, but several thousand more tourists and hotel employees are waiting to leave, he said.
