Published on : Monday, August 6, 2018
The national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that the earthquake made thousands of buildings left damaged. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has contacted the Indonesian President to offer Australia’s help to cope with the earthquake.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said an initial tsunami warning which was later cancelled had sparked terror as residents scrambled to reach safer ground. People were panicking… especially because of the early tsunami warning. There are thousands of people were evacuated to outside shelters. The beaches and hiking trails draw holidaymakers from around the world.
The US Geological Survey said the low quake hit northern Lombok just 10 kilometres underground and was followed by two further secondary quakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks.
Several tourists are fleeing Lombok Island following a powerful quake that has left at least 82 people dead, hundreds injured and thousands of homes flattened.
The tremor struck just 10km underground about 6.46pm Jakarta time. The deadly quake was followed by two light-to-moderate secondary quakes, and nearly two dozen aftershocks.
The Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has told reporters in Bali that she doesn’t believe the earthquakes will impact tourism.
The civic authorities said that foreign and Indonesian tourists are being evacuated from popular vacation islands off the northwest of Lombok.
In December 2004, a massive, magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.