JAKARTA, Indonesia — A strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s popular tourist island of Lombok on Sunday, killing at least three people and briefly triggering a tsunami warning one week after another quake in the same area killed more than a dozen.
The latest quake caused people to flee their homes and move to higher ground. Authorities said the quake may have caused some damage. Najmul Akhyar, district chief of North Lombok, told MetroTV that there was an electrical blackout so he was unable to assess the entire situation, but that at least three people had been killed.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.0 quake struck early Sunday evening at a depth of 6 miles. Its epicenter was about 1 mile east-southeast of Loloan.
A map from the U.S. Geological Survey shows the epicenter of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Lombok Island in Indonesia on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018.
U.S. Geological Survey
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami warning after the quake struck. The warning was lifted later Sunday.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told KompasTV that the quake strongly jolted Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, and may have caused damage there.
He said the quake was also felt in parts of neighboring Bali island.
Iwan Asmara, an official from the local Disaster Mitigation Agency, said people poured out from their houses in panic to move to higher ground, particularly in Mataram and North Lombok district.
A magnitude 6.4 quake hit Lombok on July 29, killing 16 people.
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 due to 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 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
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