Panic as multiple earthquakes jolt Lombok, causing landslides
Locals on edge after earthquakes hit the island earlier this month and last month, killing hundreds of people
Multiple earthquakes -- including a powerful and shallow 6.9-magnitude tremor -- struck Indonesia’s Lombok on Sunday, sending fresh panic coursing through the already battered island.
Three significant quakes were recorded by seismologists on Sunday, the first a 6.3 shortly before midday which triggered landslides and sent people fleeing for cover.
It was followed nearly twelve hours later by a late evening quake measuring 6.9 and an aftershock soon after of 5.9 strength according to the US Geological Survey.
The picturesque island is already reeling from two devastating quakes on July 29 and August 5 that killed nearly 500 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the late evening quakes on an island where many have chosen to sleep in tents in recent weeks because of regular aftershocks.
The quake was followed by a magnitude 7.2 quake that struck in the sea 124 km (75 miles) north-northeast of the holiday island at a very shallow depth of 1 km, the United States Geological Survey said.
There was no immediate tsunami alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.