Death toll rises over 100 as rescue efforts continue on Lombok

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.0 quake struck at a depth of 10.5 kilometres about two kilometres east-southeast of Loloan.

Indonesian search and rescue personnel work on a collapsed mosque in Pemenang, North Lombok on August 6, 2018, the day after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the area.
AFP

Indonesian search and rescue personnel work on a collapsed mosque in Pemenang, North Lombok on August 6, 2018, the day after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the area.

Soldiers have pulled a man alive from the rubble of a large mosque flattened by an earthquake, killing at least 105 people on the Indonesian island of Lombok, while thousands of homeless villagers waited for aid on Tuesday and stranded tourists camped at beaches and in the lobbies of damaged hotels.

The north of Lombok has been devastated by the magnitude 7.0 quake that struck on Sunday night injuring more than 230 and destroying thousands of buildings.
A distraught Muhamad Juanda said on Tuesday that "people were praying in two rows; there are about 50 people in each row so a total of 100 people praying inside the mosque."

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

Juanda said: "I stayed (inside) during the first shock but the shock grew stronger and we rolled around trying to run out and I was already outside ... when the mosque collapsed."

AFP

People sit underneath a tent at a makeshift evacuation centre set up on the compounds of a mosque in Mataram on West Nusa Tenggara province on August 7, 2018, two days after the area was struck by an earthquake.

Disaster officials have not said how many people they believe are buried beneath the ruins of the mosque.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said so far more than 4,600 foreign and Indonesian tourists had been evacuated from the islands, with ships taking people to ports in Lombok and Benoa, Bali.

Oxfam said more than 20,000 people were in temporary shelters and thousands more were camping out in the open. 

It said clean drinking water was scarce because of a recent spell of extremely dry weather in Lombok. 

Food, medical supplies, tarpaulins and clothes are also urgently needed, it said.

Two days after the quake, rescuers were still struggling to reach all the affected areas and authorities expected the death toll to rise.

TRT World speaks with journalist Kanupriya Kapoor, who is reporting from Lombok, on how some locals in the affected areas are having to fend for themselves.

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Search is underway

Video shot on Monday by a soldier showed rescuers shouting "Thank God" as a man was pulled from a space under the mosque's flattened roof and then staggered away from the ruins supported by soldiers.

"You're safe, mister," said one of the soldiers as emotion overcame the man, clad in Islamic robes, and villager s crowded around him.

About 90 personnel from the military, police and national search and rescue agency swarmed around the flattened building Tuesday, using cutting equipment to pry apart the tangled debris. By nightfall they were pulling out, saying other areas, including another collapsed mosque, needed their heavy equipment and workers more urgently.

Muhamad Juanda, who narrowly escaped the mosque collapse, said 100 people were praying inside when the earth began to roll. Many got out but dozens were trapped, he said.

Indonesian villagers say they are facing an uncertain future as recovery process of the destruction caused by the quake is progressing slowly.

TRT World's Arabella Munro reports.

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'Massive' damage

The earthquake also shook neighbouring Bali.

It was the second deadly quake in a week to hit Lombok. 

A July 29 quake killed 16 people and damaged hundreds of houses, some of which collapsed in Sunday evening's temblor, killing those inside.

Nugroho told a news conference damage was "massive" in the north of Lombok.

TRT World's Jack Hewson reports.

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Video showed screaming people running in panic from houses in a Bali neighbourhood and vehicles rocking. On Lombok, soldiers and other rescuers carried injured people on stretchers and carpets to evacuation centres. Many victims were treated outdoors because hospitals were damaged.

"People panicked and scattered on the streets and buildings and houses that had been damaged by the previous earthquake had become more damaged and collapsed," Sutopo said.

TRT World's Aishe Jamal has more.

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Tsunami warning

The tsunami warning saw people pour out of their homes to move to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province.

The warning was lifted after waves of just 15 centimetres (6 inches) high were recorded in three villages, said Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

"I was watching TV when I felt a big shake," said Harian, a Lombok woman who gave only one name. "The lamp was shaking, and people were shouting 'Get out.' I ran out into the dark because the power cut off."

Sutopo said there were no fatalities among the local and foreign holidaymakers.

Australia's home affairs minister tweeted that he and his delegation were safely evacuated in darkness from a Lombok hotel where they have been staying during a regional security conference.

Caught in an earthquake in Lombok ———————————————- Our delegation is in Mataram, Lombok for a security conference. I...

Posted by K Shanmugam Sc on Sunday, August 5, 2018

'Powerful' earthquake 

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told Fairfax Media that he was on the hotel's 12th floor when the quake struck. He said the quake "was powerful enough to put us on the floor" and cut power.

The Bali and Lombok airports continued operating on Sunday night, according to the director general of civil aviation. 

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.

Like Bali, Lombok is known for pristine beaches and mountains. 

Hotels and other buildings in both locations are not allowed to exceed the height of coconut trees.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. 

In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

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