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Indonesia raises Lombok quake death toll to 91

August 10, 2018 04:14·
The earthwuake sent shockwaves maeasuring a magnitude of 7 on the richter scale

The earthwuake sent shockwaves maeasuring a magnitude of 7 on the richter scale

A powerful quake struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, killing at least 91 people and shaking neighbouring Bali, as authorities said Monday that rescuers still hadn't reached some hard-hit areas and the death toll could climb.

Tourists fled the Indonesian island of Lombok on Monday after a magnitude-6.9 quake killed at least 91 people - a death toll that is expected to rise.

It was also felt in Sumbawa Island, to the east of Lombok according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Management Board; twelve aftershocks followed the quake.

"There are challenges: the roads were damaged, three bridges were also damaged, some locations are hard to reach and we don't have enough personnel", said Nugroho.

Separately, the local village head, Budhiawan, said about 30 people were trapped based on unclaimed belongings outside the mosque.

Officials said more than 2,000 people had been evacuated from the three Gili islands off the northwest coast of Lombok, where fears of another tsunami spread. "It's understandable they want to leave the Gilis, they are panicking", he told AFP.

"We are fighting for boats now".

I Made Suprateka, a spokesman for Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), said the state utility company is sending personnel and equipment from East Java and Bali to help restore power in East and North Lombok.

But it was Lombok which bore the brunt of Sunday evening´s quake.

Power and communications were cut in some areas of Lombok, with landslides and a collapsed bridge hampering access to the north.

The violent shaking of the magnitude 7 quake that struck Indonesia, killing more than 30, was "pretty terrifying", Justice Minister Andrew Little says.

Officials said patients were evacuated from the main hospital.

Thousands of homes were damaged by a powerful natural disaster Sunday on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok.

"We can not evacuate all of them all at once because we don't have enough capacity on the boats". There had been a half-hour evacuation at the Lombok airport following the quake because the electricity went off. TV showed crying women consoling each other outside Lombok's airport.

She wrote: "I'm either still trembling or these little quakes won't stop".

Thousands of tourists are trying to get off Indonesia's Gili Islands in the wake of a magnitude-6.9 quake which collapsed buildings.

Home Affairs Minister K.Shanmugam of Singapore described the quake on Facebook as it shook violently the bulding in which he was staying.

"The only damage we saw in the hotel building was as we went down the staircase on the lower floors, certainly some of the plaster work had come apart, some of the beams were cracked and when we got out on the street frontage, there was quite bit of things that had fallen off the building".

The latest quake, which triggered a brief tsunami warning, damaged buildings as far away as Denpasar on Bali, including a department store and the airport terminal, where ceiling panels were shaken loose, authorities said.

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