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Third Strong Earthquake Hits Indonesian Islands


Distraught people react after 6.2 earthquake hits Lombok, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: Nurhadi Sucahyo for VOA Indonesia)
Distraught people react after 6.2 earthquake hits Lombok, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: Nurhadi Sucahyo for VOA Indonesia)

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake rocked Indonesia's Lombok island and the neighboring island of Bali on Thursday, causing instant panic after Sunday's quake in the region killed more than 300 people.

People at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport were seen shouting and running down escalators, streaming out the exits and across the main hall.

Officials said the epicenter of the aftershock was on land and there was no risk of a tsunami.

Damage to building after 6.2 earthquake hits Lombok, Indonesia, Thursday, August 9, 2018. (Photo: Nurhadi Sucahyo for VOA Indonesia)
Damage to building after 6.2 earthquake hits Lombok, Indonesia, Thursday, August 9, 2018. (Photo: Nurhadi Sucahyo for VOA Indonesia)

Meanwhile, the death toll in Sunday's devastating earthquake on Indonesia's Lombok Island has risen to 347, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told the news agency Wednesday that another 1,447 people were injured and more than 165,000 have been displaced.

The majority of the people died in Kayangan, on the north side of the island, Antara reported.

The numbers have increased as reports came in from areas isolated by the 6.9 magnitude quake, which struck off the waters of the northern part of Lombok island. The quake was also felt on the neighboring Gili Islands as well as Bali, Sumbawa and parts of East Java.

On Tuesday, the government estimated that 80 percent of the buildings in northern Lombok have been destroyed.

Thousands of tourists have been evacuated from Lombok and the Gili Islands.

Nugroho says the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue crews reach more affected areas and begin to search the rubble for more victims.

Last week, 17 people were killed when a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Lombok.

Like Bali, Lombok is known for its pristine beaches and mountains.

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 Ocean Basin. In December 2004, a magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

VOA's Indonesian service contributed to this report.

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