Aftershocks rock Indonesia's Lombok as quake death toll tops 300
The death toll from a devastating earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok jumped to 319 today.
The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake Sunday levelled tens of thousands of homes, mosques and businesses across Lombok, with relief agencies only just starting to reach survivors in some of the worst-hit areas four days later.
"Our latest update is that 319 people died," said Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, adding that rescue efforts were ongoing and complicated by aftershocks.
Around 1,400 people were seriously injured and more than 150,000 displaced, authorities said earlier.
Motorcycles parked on the street in northern Lombok's Tanjung district toppled over and the walls of some nearby buildings collapsed.
"We were stuck in the traffic while delivering aid, suddenly it felt like our car was hit from behind, it was so strong," witness Sri Laksmi told AFP.
"People in the street began to panic and got out of their cars, they ran in different directions in the middle of the traffic."
"It is already clear that Sunday's earthquake was exceptionally destructive," Christopher Rassi, the head of a Red Cross assessment team on Lombok, said in a statement.
[caption id="attachment_184122" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
[/caption]
"I visited villages yesterday that were completely collapsed." Workers with heavy machinery are searching the rubble of homes, schools and mosques, with hope of finding any survivors fading.
Evacuees in some encampments say they are running out of food, while others are suffering psychological trauma after the powerful quake, which struck just one week after another tremor surged through the island and killed 17.
There is a dire need for medical staff and "long-term aid", especially food and medicine in the worst-hit areas, government officials said.
"I'm still in pain from giving birth," she told AFP "I need diapers, I need milk." Other evacuees said they were subsisting on a diet of instant noodles and needed clean water and bedding.
The Indonesian Red Cross said it had set up 10 mobile clinics in the north of the island.
A field hospital has also been established near an evacuation centre catering to more than 500 people in the village of Tanjung.
-PTC News
[/caption]
