Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says he was "very lucky" to escape a deadly earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok unharmed.

The senior MP was dining at a restaurant on the 12th floor of a hotel when the magnitude-7 quake struck.

"We were knocked certainly to the floor," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.

"It was a pretty violent shaking and swaying of the building. It went on for ... a minute or so.

"The main thing is all the Australian delegation is safe and well."

Mr Dutton said parts of the building were falling down and large cracks appeared on the facade.

"We were pretty lucky to get out," he said.

"There was certainly a lot of structural damage to the building.

AAP

"Everyone's a bit shaken but all well."

The cabinet minister is in Indonesia for a regional counter-terrorism conference with a delegation from Australian, including the Australian Federal Police commissioner.

The group was unable to return to the hotel but had some luggage collected by local security guards.

Mr Dutton, who is heading to Bali for another summit, said it was a "terrible day" for Indonesia.

The earthquake killed at least 82 people.