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At least 19 dead, dozens injured after 7.0 quake hits Indonesian island of Lombok

AFP
Mataram, Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara, IndonesiaUpdated: Aug 05, 2018, 11:17 PM IST
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File photo of Indonesia earthquake. Photograph:(Reuters)

A major earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok Sunday killed at least 19 people, injured dozens and damaged buildings, officials said.

The seven-magnitude tremor struck just 10 kilometres (six miles) underground, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was followed by two light to moderate secondary quakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks.

"The latest data we have 19 people are dead at Tanjung Hospital (North Lombok)," Agus Hendra Sanjaya, Mataram search and rescue spokesman, told AFP.

Among the dead are a one-year-old and a 72-year-old, he said, adding that at least 52 people were injured.

Officials issued a tsunami warning after the quake, but it was later cancelled.

Seawater up to 13 centimetres (five inches) deep poured into two villages, Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the agency for meteorology, climatology and geophysics, told local TV.

The quake caused light damage as far away as the Javanese city of Bandung, some 955 kilometres from Mataram, but was felt strongly on the neighbouring resort island of Bali.

The tremor came a week after a shallow 6.4-magnitude quake hit Lombok, killing 17 people and damaging hundreds of buildings.

It triggered landslides that briefly trapped trekkers on popular mountain hiking routes.