Sembalun: Strong earthquakes jolted the Indonesian island of Lombok on Sunday, causing power blackouts, landslides and damage to buildings, as the tourist hotspot tries to recover from a temblor earlier this month that killed hundreds of people. A shallow quake on Sunday evening was measured at magnitude 6.9 by the US Geological Survey and followed quakes during the day recorded at magnitudes 6.3 and 5.4. All were centered in the northeast of the island. The evening quake was followed by strong aftershocks.
There was no immediate information about damage or casualties. Kompas TV said there were power blackouts in the north, center and west of the island. Hotel guests in the Senggigi resort town on the west of the island were evacuated to parking lots, it said.
Dwikorita Karnawatim, who heads Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said buildings that haven’t collapsed so far have suffered repeated stress, and authorities have urged people to avoid both the mountain’s slopes and weakened buildings. The quake also was felt in the neighboring islands of Bali and Sumbawa. The daytime quakes caused landslides on the slopes of Rinjani, an active volcano, and panic in villages.
A magnitude 7 quake that struck Lombok on August 5 killed 460 people, damaged tens of thousands of homes and displaced several hundred thousand people. Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions.
