Articles by "Mataram"
Mataram(Indonesia), Aug 11: An earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has killed 387 people, authorities said today, adding hundreds of thousands of displaced people were still short of clean water, food and medicine nearly a week on.
The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake Sunday levelled tens of thousands of homes, mosques and businesses across Lombok, just one week after another tremor surged through the island and killed 17.
"It's predicted the death toll will continue to grow because there are still victims who are suspected of being buried by landslides and under rubble, and there are victims that have not been recorded and reported to posts," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
The number forced from their homes in the disaster has soared to 387,000, Nugroho said, with around 13,000 injured.
The hardest hit region of Lombok has been in the north, where 334 people have died and nearly 200,000 have been forced from their homes, according to latest official tolls.
Two people were also killed by the quake on the neighbouring tourist island of Bali.
Nugroho said the emergency response period has been extended another 14 days, which would allow authorities to deal with the "many problems" that still existed in the field.
Most of the displaced are sleeping under tents or tarpaulins near their ruined homes or in evacuation shelters, while makeshift medical facilities have been set up to treat the injured.
Six days after the quake hit some evacuees have still not received assistance, particularly in the mountainous north of the island.
"The main problem is the distribution of supplies to thousands of refugee points," Nugroho said.
"Most of the roads in North Lombok were damaged by the earthquake." Survivors of the quake have been shaken by hundreds of aftershocks, including a shallow 5.9-magnitude quake Thursday which caused people to flee evacuation shelters crying and screaming. (AFP)
Mataram, Aug 9: A strong aftershock struck Indonesia's Lombok today, the US Geological Survey reported, just four days after a devastating earthquake killed more than 160 on the holiday island.
The 5.9-magnitude quake struck at a shallow depth today, with its epicentre in the northwest of the island, the USGS said. (AFP)
Mataram (Indonesia), Aug 8: More than 70,000 people have been left homeless in the deadly earthquake that hit Lombok island, forced to sleep in makeshift shelters and lacking food, medicine and clean water, authorities said today.
The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake killed at least 105 people and triggered panic among locals and tourists on Lombok on Sunday, just a week after another tremor surged through the holiday island and killed 17.
Some 236 people have been severely injured in the latest quake, with tens of thousands of homes damaged, and authorities have appealed for more medical personnel and basic supplies.
"The efforts to evacuate people have been intensified but there are still a lot of problems on the ground," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said today.
"The number of victims keep rising. More than 70,000 people have been evacuated and tens of thousands of houses have collapsed."
There are fears the death toll will rise as workers with heavy machinery claw through the rubble of homes, schools and mosques, with hopes of finding any survivors fading.
Muhammad Zainul Majdi, the governor of West Nusa Tenggara province which covers Lombok, said there was a dire need for medical staff, food and medicine in the worst-hit areas.
Hundreds of bloodied and bandaged victims have been treated outside damaged hospitals in the main city of Mataram and other badly affected areas.
"We have limited human resources. Some paramedics have to be at the shelters, some need to be mobile,"Majdi told AFP.
"The scale of this quake is massive for us here in West Nusa Tenggara, this is our first experience." - 'Destruction almost 100 per cent' -
Across much of the island, once-bustling villages have been turned into virtual ghost towns.
"In some villages we visited the destruction was almost 100 per cent, all houses collapsed, roads are cracked and bridges were broken," said Arifin Muhammad Hadi, a spokesman for the Indonesian Red Cross.
Makeshift encampments have popped up on the side of roads and rice fields, with many farmers reluctant to move far from their damaged homes and leave precious livestock behind.
"It's typical of earthquake victims in Indonesia, they want to stay close to their livelihood, they can't bring their livestock to the shelters,"Hadi said.
Local authorities, international relief groups and the central government have begun organising aid, but shattered roads have slowed efforts to reach survivors in the mountainous north and east of Lombok, which was hardest hit.
The Indonesian military said that three Hercules transporter planes packed with much-needed food, medication, blankets, tents and water tanks have now arrived in Lombok.
The tremor struck as evening prayers were being said across the Muslim-majority island and there are fears that one collapsed mosque in north Lombok had been filled with worshippers.
Crews using heavy equipment resumed the search today for survivors in the mosque, now reduced to pile of concrete and metal bars, with its towering green dome folded in on itself.
Rescuers have found three bodies and also managed to pull one man alive from the twisted wreckage.
"We estimate there are still more victims because we found many sandals in front of the mosque," Nugroho said yesterday.
Among other major buildings to collapse were a health clinic, government offices and other public facilities, he added.
Meanwhile, the evacuation of tourists from the Gili Islands, three tiny, coral-fringed tropical islands off the northwest coast of Lombok has finished, officials said.
"Most foreign tourists have been evacuated," Yusuf Latif, national search and rescue team spokesman, told AFP.
Lombok airport's general manager said airlines had laid on extra flights and his staff had been providing blankets and snacks. (AFP)
Mataram, Jul 31: More than 500 hikers and their guides have been successfully evacuated from an Indonesian volcano after a deadly earthquake triggered landslides that trapped them on the mountain, officials said today.
Tonnes of rock and mud were dislodged on Mount Rinjani in the 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck early Sunday and was followed by scores of aftershocks, blocking the hiking routes that crisscross the mountain.
An estimated 560 stranded trekkers were thought to have included citizens from the United States, France, the Netherlands, Thailand and Germany, as well as many other countries, according to search and rescue officials.
"543 hikers have been evacuated -- they arrived last night," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP.
"There are now six people left... They are all healthy and safe." Hikers were able to start descending the mountain Monday after guides discovered an alternate route that was unaffected by the landslides.
Most of the trekkers reached the base of the mountain by late Monday evening, according to I Gusti Lanang Wiswananda, a spokesman for Mataram search and rescue agency.
"They were all tired, but in good condition and were checked by our medical teams on the ground upon arrival," he told AFP.
Hundreds of other hikers managed to get off the mountain on Sunday, according to officials.
At least 16 people were killed in the earthquake across affected areas of Lombok, while hundreds of buildings were destroyed including a health clinic.
The quake created panic on the holiday island and sent locals and tourists running outside their homes and hotels.
Helicopters and search teams were deployed to scour the volcano's slopes and drop food supplies for those stranded on the mountain. (AFP)
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