5 dead, 30 hurt after quake causes landslide in Lombok
JAKARTA A 5.4-magnitude earthquake on Lombok Island caused a landslide yesterday, killing at least five people, including a Malaysian, and injuring more than 30 - most of whom were foreign and domestic tourists.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, a 5.4-magnitude tectonic earthquake jolted East Lombok regency.
The earthquake struck at about 2pm local time, with its epicentre about 20km north of Selong city. It was estimated to be 20km deep.
While the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami, North Lombok regency administration said it had caused a landslide at the Tiu Kelep Waterfall in Bayan district.
The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency and the North Lombok Health Agency dispatched four ambulances as well as medical and rescue personnel.
As of yesterday afternoon, the team had rescued 19 people and recovered two bodies.
A local official was quoted as saying that 40 tourists were injured by the landslide, many of them Malaysians.
Bayan district was one of several areas damaged in earthquakes that jolted the island between July and August last year. More than 500 people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured then.
In a separate incident, flash floods in Papua province killed at least 50 people, an official said yesterday.
The floods in Sentani, near the provincial capital of Jayapura, were triggered by torrential rain and landslides on Saturday. Dozens of homes were damaged by flood waters, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
"The casualties and impact of the disaster will likely increase as search and rescue teams are still trying to reach other affected areas," he added. - THE STAR, AFP
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