Dozens hurt in Bali, Lombok quake

I Wayan Juniartha and Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Mataram

A powerful earthquake rocked the two tourist islands of Bali and Lombok on Friday, injuring dozens of people and damaging hundreds of buildings, local officials and residents said.

An elderly man reportedly died of a heart attack, apparently triggered by the shock of the strong tremor in Lombok.

At least 28 people, including South African tourist Dr. Carine Lourence who was staying at Mangsit Hotel in Lombok, were injured in the quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Lourence suffered a head wound after being hit by a falling picture frame in her hotel room.

The number of victims could increase as local authorities are still collecting data on those affected.

The tremor, which struck shortly before dawn in Lombok Strait -- some 30 kilometers off the east coast of Bali -- was felt in the West Nusa Tenggara capital Mataram, the northern part of West Lombok and Sumbawa island.

Most of those injured suffered broken legs and arms as well as bruising as buildings collapsed around them.

In Bali, at least 11 people were injured and hundreds of buildings were damaged when the powerful quake jolted the eastern regency of Karangasem, some 80 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital Denpasar.

"However, we have discharged nine of them. Their injuries were mostly minor cuts and bruises," Karangasem Hospital head IGM Tirtayana said.

The remaining two victims, whose ankle and wrist were broken, were transferred to a hospital in neighboring Klungkung regency for further treatment.

"Our emergency unit and surgical theater could not function properly due to damage inflicted by the quake," Tirtayana said.

The damage also forced the hospital to discharge 28 other patients prematurely, he added.

The earthquake also damaged houses and places of worship in the villages of Culik, Seraya and Tenganan Dauh Tukad.

The quake, which was followed by a power blackout, panicked many residents, with some breaking down the doors of their houses to flee.

"I was trembling so bad that I could not find the right keys for the doors, so I just stormed through it," one villager said.

Bali health authorities responded quickly to the disaster, sending whatever assistance the victims needed by the morning.

By 11 a.m, Karangasem Hospital had at its disposal 10 ambulances, health workers and medical supplies, which were considered more than enough to deal with the injured.

By Friday afternoon most things had returned to normal in Karangasem. Local people gathered at food stalls and in open spaces to discuss the quake.

The operational head of Bali's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, Budi Sunarso, said it was the most powerful earthquake to hit the area since 1979.

Sunarso disclosed that the earthquake started precisely at 4:59.31 a.m. in the morning and lasted for about five minutes.

"The strongest tremor, however, lasted for no more than 30 seconds," he said.

The tremor could also be felt in Denpasar, although to a much lesser extent and reportedly did not cause any damage.

Sunarso attributed the unusual strength of the quake to the fact that its epicenter was only 33 kilometers beneath the surface.

"It was a shallow epicenter, thus, most of the energy released by the movement of the tectonic plate was able to quickly reach the surface," he explained.

Sunarso stressed that the quake was caused by the shifting of a local tectonic plate, which was beneath Karangasem and western parts of Lombok, and was not by the movement of the Euro-Asia and Indo-Australia tectonic plates.

"The latter two are located some 300 kilometers beneath the surface of Bali. Although they have frequently caused earthquakes, the tremors are mostly mild due to their distance from the surface. Sometimes, you cannot even feel the tremor," he said.

In 2003 alone, the two tectonic plates were responsible for at least 1,173 minor quakes in Bali.

In December 1992, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale killed about 2,200 people on Flores island, east of Bali.

A major earthquake measuring 6.8 killed about 30,000 people in Iran a week ago, while one measuring 6.3 struck Mexico on Thursday.