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Minor injuries reported after new tremor rocks Indonesia's Lombok

by Reuters
Sunday, 19 August 2018 10:49 GMT

A rescue member stands as heavy equipment moves debris to find people trapped inside a mosque after an earthquake hit on Sunday in Pemenang, Lombok Island, Indonesia, August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Beawiharta

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(Updates with details of injuries and damage)

MATARAM, Indonesia, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A fresh tremor of 6.3 magnitude struck the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Sunday, after an earthquake killed more than 430 people there this month.

USGS estimated the depth of the latest tremor at 7.9 km (4.9 miles) and said the epicentre was on the northeastern shoulder of the island at the foot of Mount Rinjani. There was no tsunami warning, and authorities later said there had been only minor injuries and limited damage.

Lombok, just east of Bali, the southeast Asian country's most famous tourist destination, has been rocked by a series of quakes and aftershocks since July 29, including a 6.9-magnitude tremor on Aug. 5.

Disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said via Twitter that so far only one person had been lightly injured, two people had fainted and several houses were damaged in the eastern part of the island.

"It was very strong. All the lights went out," Asmaatul Husna told Reuters at a shopping mall where she works in Lombok's main town, Mataram.

Nugroho said activity on the island was normal and Mount Rinjani, where hundreds of trekkers were stranded after the July 29 quake, was closed and there were no tourists there.

Lombok suffered damage running to more than 5 trillion rupiah ($342 million) from the Aug. 5 earthquake, authorities said last week, putting the death toll at more than 430.

More than 350,000 people fled their homes after that quake to shelter in government-provided tents or makeshift structures in open fields. Authorities said aid was slow getting to some of the hardest-hit areas as they are remote.

(Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor and Tabita Diela; Writing by John Chalmers and Ed Davies; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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