Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Indonesia's Lombok, Bali; tsunami warning lifted

Image courtesy: Reuters

INDONESIA: Earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck Indonesia's Lombok and Bali islands on Sunday evening. The earthquake struck off the north coast of Indonesia's resort islands of Lombok and Bali, the United States Geological Survey said. 

According to Reuters, Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said the earthquake struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles). Indonesia lifted Tsunami warning, which was earlier prompted by the quake. 

No official information about possible casualties was available more than two hours after the quake.

The United States Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was on land on Lombok, though initial reports put it just off the coast. , The incident happened a week after a magnitude 6.4 quake killed 14 people on Lombok and briefly stranded hundreds of hikers on the slopes of a volcano.

Officials said travellers at the international airports in Bali and Lombok were thrown into panic and there was minor damage to the buildings, but that operations were not disrupted.

The quake was felt for several seconds in Bali, where people ran out of houses, hotels, and restaurants.

"All the hotel guests were running, so I did too. People filled the streets," said Michelle Lindsay, an Australian tourist. "A lot of officials were urging people not to panic."

Other witnesses said the initial quake grew in intensity over several seconds, rattling windows and doors in their frames, and there were many aftershocks.

The country's disaster management agency urged people to stay away from the sea and beaches. However, an initial warning of a tsunami with waves of up to 0.5 metre was later withdrawn.

(With Reuters inputs)