Indonesia earthquake: dozens killed as tremors hit Lombok

A massive earthquake has rocked the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, killing at least 91 people and leaving hundreds more injured.

The magnitude 7.0 quake was the second deadly quake to hit the area in the past week, leaving thousands of homes damaged and widespread power outages across the island.

Hardest hit was the island’s main city of Mataram, which saw residents rushing out of their homes as the earthquake began. Patients were reportedly evacuated from the city’s main hospital, with some receiving treatment from doctors in the streets.

According to the BBC, the quake was “shallow, occurring only 10km (6.21 miles) underground”, triggering a tsunami alert that was lifted a few hours later. More than 100 aftershocks have been recorded.

A spokesperson for the Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that rescue and recovery efforts have been hampered by damaged roads, power outages and a lack of phone reception following the tremor.

Several senior international politicians were on Lombok for a security conference when the earthquake struck.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam described the earthquake on Facebook, saying: “It was quite impossible to stand up.”

The earthquake was the second to hit Lombok in the space of a week, after a magnitude 6.4 tremor hit the island last Sunday, which killed 14 people and “briefly stranded hundreds of hikers on the slopes of a volcano”, The Guardian says.