Indonesia earthquake: 10 dead, dozens injured after magnitude 6.4 quake hits Lombok island

At least 10 people were dead and dozens were left injured after a strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Sunday hit the Indonesian island of Lombok. The quake whose epicentre was seven kilometre deep, hit at 6.4 am, causing damages to many buildings, Indonesia's disaster agency said.

The Unites States Geological Survey earlier said that the quake struck 50 kilometre northeast from the city of Mataram, northeast of the island.

Lombok, a popular tourist destination in Indonesia, stand around 100 kilometre east of Bali.

At least 11 aftershocks were recorded after the quake, Indonesia’s geophysics and meteorology agency said.

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“So far we have not received any report on damages,” agency spokesman Hary Tirto Djatmiko said in a statement.

However, no tsunami alert was issued, he added.

“The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside,” said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok, close to the epicentre. “All my neighbours also ran outside and the electricity was suddenly cut off,” he told AFP.

Indonesia, a chain of many islands, sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an unstable activity spot.

It is frequently hit by quakes, maximum of those are harmless. However, the region remains alert to the shakes that might trigger tsunamis.

In 2004, a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, in western Indonesia, killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

(With inputs from PTI)