91 dead after powerful earthquake strikes Indonesia

TIL Desk/World/Jakarta/ An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale struck Lombok island of Indonesia on Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey, killing over 90 people and injuring 200 others. The head of disaster management of the Indonesian Red Cross Society, confirmed the death toll.

Hundreds of people have been taken to local hospitals and thousands of homes have been damaged, he said. The earthquake struck at a depth of 15 kilometre, causing dozens of buildings to collapse and triggering a tsunami warning. Over an hour later the tsunami warning was lifted.

The quake occurred in the early evening after sunset and was the second powerful temblor on Lombok in a week. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook the island July 29, killing more than a dozen people and briefly stranding hundreds of hikers on the slopes of a volcano.

“All the hotel guests were running, so I did too. People filled the streets,” An Australian tourist on Bali, was quoted . “A lot of officials were urging people not to panic.” Indonesia’s ministry of tourism released a statement saying no tourists had been “injured or impacted” by the quake.