A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck East Lombok yesterday has triggered a landslide in the island’s north, claiming the lives of at least two tourists and injuring several others.
The landslide took place around Tiu Kelep waterfall, a famous tourist attraction in Senaru Village, North Lombok.
Most of the 40 tourists trapped at the location were Malaysians and Indonesians, Mujaddid Muhas, spokesperson of North Lombok Regional Secretariat was quoted as saying by detik.com.
Reports said all of the 22 Malaysian tourists and 14 Indonesian travellers had been evacuated last night.
A series of aftershocks continued to rock Lombok several hours after the first quake that struck at around 14.00.
Rescue efforts are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency reported that the earthquake was felt not only on Lombok island, but also neighbouring Sumbawa Island and Bali.
The latest disaster struck Lombok just as it is slowly getting back on its feet after the devastating earthquake and tsunami August last year.
The island, which was bereft of tourists after the disaster last year, last month started to see some 30 per cent growth in arrivals and was expecting to reach between 60 per cent and 80 per cent by summer this year.
