Multiple quakes rattle Indonesian island, 5 dead

Multiple quakes rattle Indonesian island, 5 dead
Patients and their family members stay at a makeshift hospital ward in Mataram on Indonesia's Lombok island on Monday after a series of earthquakes rocked the place. | Photo: AFP

Jakarta: At least five people were killed and 40 others injured as two quakes measuring 6.5 and 6.9 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's Lombok Island where several previous tremors have already claimed over 400 lives since July, an official said on Monday.

The jolts on Sunday morning and night amplified damages resulted from the 6.4 and 7.0 magnitude quakes hitting the island earlier on July 27 and August 5, head of emergency unit of disaster management agency Agung Pramudja said.

The latest figure put the total death toll from the quakes since July 27 to at least 465.

The official said that a preliminary report indicated that at least 200 houses were seriously destroyed by the temblor.

"The shakes incited significant damages and many residents have fled home and taken shelters in makeshift encampment," he told Xinhua.

The official said that the assessment of the further risks of the jolts is being undertaken. No tsunami alert was issued.

The first quake struck the island at 11.10 am with epicentre at 32 km East Lombok of West Nusa Tenggara province in western parts of the island and a depth of 10 km, the agency said.

The second one took place at 9.56 p.m. with an epicentre at 30 km northeast East Lombok district of West Nusa Tenggara province and a depth of 10 km, it said.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

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