Strong quake hits Indonesia's Lombok island; at least 3 dead

A strong earthquake struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok today, killing at least three people and shaking neighbouring Bali, one week after another quake on Lombok killed more than a dozen.

The latest quake, which triggered a brief tsunami warning, damaged buildings as far away as Denpasar on Bali, including a department store and the airport terminal, where ceiling panels were shaken loose, authorities said.

The quake, recorded at magnitude 7.0 by the US Geological Survey, struck early this evening at a depth of 10.5 kilometers in the northern part of Lombok.

A tsunami warning was lifted after waves just 15 centimetres high were recorded in three villages, said the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati.

Najmul Akhyar, district chief of North Lombok, told MetroTV that there was an electrical blackout so he was unable to assess the entire situation, but that at least three people had been killed.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the quake was felt strongly across Lombok and Bali and had damaged houses on both islands.

Iwan Asmara, a Lombok disaster official, said people poured out of their homes in panic to move to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, which includes Lombok.

The Bali and Lombok airports were operating normally tonight, according to the director general of civil aviation. There had been a half hour evacuation at the Lombok airport earlier in the evening following the quake.

A magnitude 6.4 quake hit Lombok on July 29, killing 16 people.

Like Bali, Lombok is known for pristine beaches and mountains. Hotels and other buildings in both locations are not allowed to exceed the height of coconut trees.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.