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Lombok earthquake: 6.3-magnitude tremor rocks Indonesian island just two weeks after quakes killed 460

People flee into street as latest tremor shakes island recovering from deadly earthquake 

Will Kirby,Chris Baynes
Sunday 19 August 2018 07:50 BST
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Lombok earthquake: 6.3-magnitude tremor rocks Indonesian island just two weeks after quakes killed 460

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Lombok has been struck by another major earthquake, just two weeks after a quake killed 460 people on the Indonesian island.

The magnitude-6.3 earthquake, which was centred in the northeast of the island at the foot of Mount Rinjani, sent people running into the streets in panic, although so far there have been no reports of any casualties.

The quake was felt as far away as Bali, Indonesia‘s most famous tourist destination, and is the latest in a string of earthquakes in the region.

A magnitude-7.0 quake on 5 August caused damage worth more than 5 trillion rupiah (£268 million) and prompted over 350,000 people to flee their homes.

Witnesses said the latest quake caused landslides on the slopes of Rinjani and panic in villages. Video shot by the Indonesian Red Cross showed huge clouds of dust billowing from the mountain’s slopes.

Buildings in the mountain town of Sembalun have been damaged, including a community hall that collapsed in earlier quakes, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

He said there had been no reports of injuries or fatalities so far but information was still being collected.

The quake was preceded a few minutes earlier by a magnitude-5.4 tremor, also in Lombok's northeast.

Rinjani has been closed to visitors since a July earthquake that killed 16 people, triggered landslides and stranded hundreds of tourists on the mountain, which is an active volcano.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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