Strong earthquakes jolted the Indonesian island of Lombok on Sunday, causing power blackouts, landslides and damage to buildings, as the tourist hotspot tries to recover from a temblor earlier this month that killed hundreds of people.
A shallow quake Sunday evening was measured at magnitude 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey and followed quakes during the day recorded at magnitudes 6.3 and 5.4. All were centered in the northeast of the island. The evening quake was followed by strong aftershocks.
An Associated Press reporter in Sembalun subdistrict, on the island's northeast in the shadow of Mount Rinjani, said the latest in the flurry of quakes caused panic and power blackouts. Many people were already staying in tents following the deadly quake in early August and its hundreds of aftershocks.
There was no immediate official information about damage or casualties. Kompas TV said there were power blackouts in the north, center and west of the island. Hotel guests in the Senggigi resort town on the west of the island were evacuated to parking lots, it said.
Dwikorita Karnawatim, who heads Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said buildings that haven't collapsed so far have suffered repeated stress, and authorities have urged people to avoid both the mountain's slopes and weakened buildings.
The quake also was felt in the neighboring islands of Bali and Sumbawa. An AP reporter said tourists and villagers in Bali ran out of buildings in panic.
The daytime quakes caused landslides on the slopes of Rinjani, an active volcano, and panic in villages. Video shot by the Indonesian Red Cross showed huge clouds of dust billowing from the mountain's slopes.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said one person died from a heart attack during the biggest of the daytime quakes and nearly 100 houses near the epicenter were severely damaged.
The shaking toppled motorcycles and damaged buildings in Lombok's Sembalun subdistrict, including a community hall that collapsed. The hall had sustained damage in earlier quakes, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
A magnitude 7.0 quake that struck Lombok on Aug. 5 killed 460 people, damaged tens of thousands of homes and displaced several hundred thousand people.
Mount Rinjani has been closed to visitors following a July earthquake that killed 16 people, triggered landslides and stranded hundreds of tourists on the mountain.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that straddles the Pacific "Ring of Fire," is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A magnitude 6.3 quake killed one person and wrecked homes near the town of Belanting on Sunday.
It was felt in the east of the island, triggering landslides and sending people fleeing into the streets.
Officials later reported a 7.0 tremor in the same area. There is no word on any casualties in that quake.
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The biggest quake in recent weeks - of 6.9 magnitude - killed more than 460 people on 5 August.
It levelled homes, mosques and businesses, displacing hundreds of thousands, including many tourists.
In the first in the series, on 29 July, a 6.4 magnitude quake trigged landslides in the mountain region of the island and killed at least 16 people.
Sunday's first quake, at a depth of 7.9km (4.9 miles), "caused people to panic and flee their homes", national disaster agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told local media.
One person died from a "violent shock", local officials said. About 100 homes were severely damaged, they added.
"I was driving to deliver aid to evacuees when suddenly the electricity pole was swaying," East Lombok resident Agus Salim told news agency AFP. "People started to scream and cry. They all ran to the street."
In Mataram, the island's capital, lights went out in a shopping centre and people ran from their homes for open fields, eyewitnesses said.
Endri Susanto told AFP: "People are traumatised by the previous earthquakes, and aftershocks never seem to stop."
The second quake, south of Belanting, was recorded at a depth of 10km.
Landslides hit a national park where hundreds of hikers had been trapped after the first quake.
Lombok has suffered more than 5 trillion rupiah ($342 million; £268 million) in damages following the 5 August earthquake, authorities said last week.
Lombok is a roughly 4,500 sq km (1,700 sq miles) island east of the slightly larger island of Bali.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire - the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.
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