Lombok earthquake: Indonesian holiday island hit by two tremors in the space of hours

A rescue worker climbs over debris of a collapsed mosque after an earthquake in Lombok earlier this month
EPA
James Morris19 August 2018

The Indonesian holiday island of Lombok has been struck by two earthquakes within hours of each other.

A 7.2-magnitude tremor hit the island on Sunday afternoon, with a depth of just 1km.

It follows a 6.3 quake in the morning. No casualties have yet been reported.

These were the fourth and fifth earthquakes to hit Lombok in the space of three weeks. More than 430 people were killed in a 7.0 quake on August 5.

The UK foreign office has advised against "all but essential travel” to areas in the north of the isla​nd.

People were left terrified by the earthquake on Sunday morning. Asmaatul Husna, who works at a shopping mall in Lombok’s main town of Mataram, said: “It was very strong. All the lights went out.”

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the island’s disaster mitigation agency spokesman, said “we are still monitoring” for casualties.

Thousands of people have been left homeless by the series of earthquakes, with shortages of food, water and medicine also reported.

Lombok suffered £268m of damage from the quake on August 5.

More than 350,000 people fled their homes after to shelter in government-provided tents or makeshift structures in open fields.

Authorities said aid was slow getting to some of the hardest-hit areas as they are remote.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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