This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

At least 98 people have been confirmed dead and more than 236 severely injured in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday evening.

The damage in northern Lombok was “massive”, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said. In several districts, more than half the homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

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The death toll is expected to rise, as rescuers are yet to reach some areas. Rescue efforts have been hampered by power outages, broken bridges and a lack of phone reception in some areas.

All but two of the confirmed dead were on Lombok, authorities said. One person died in Denpasar on neighbouring Bali and one died on the Gili islands, which lie a few miles off Lombok’s north-west coast.

Aftermath of deadly earthquake on Lombok – in pictures Read more

More than 100 aftershocks have hit the area since the quake that struck the island at 6.46pm local time on Sunday. Lombok was hit by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake last week, killing 16 people and and briefly stranding hundreds of hikers on the slopes of a volcano.

President Joko Widodo, better known by his nickname Jokowi, expressed “deep sorrow for our brothers” and pledged to rebuild buildings damaged in the disaster, noting that emergency teams were still surveying the full extent of the damage.

Play Video 0:45 Families flee homes in Lombok after earthquake rocks Indonesia – video

The quake triggered widespread panic across Lombok, with residents fleeing their homes and heading to higher ground, after the tremor initially triggered a tsunami warning. The alert was later cancelled.

Rescue officials said much of the damage had hit Lombok’s main city of Mataram, with several areas losing power and patients evacuated from the main hospital, witnesses and officials said.

“Everyone immediately ran out of their homes, everyone is panicking,” Iman, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP.

The United States Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was on land on Lombok, though initial reports put it just off the coast. It struck at a depth of 31km (19 miles).

More than 2,700 mostly foreign tourists have been evacuated from the tiny, coral-fringed Gili islands. Footage posted online by rescue officials showed hundreds of panicked tourists and locals crowded on to powder-white beaches waiting for transport.

Helen Brady (@_helenbrady) Stranded in Gili Trawangan and this is the scene. Chaos! #Lombokquake #lombokearthquake @BBCNews @BBCBreaking pic.twitter.com/324pcq2nVk

James Kelsall, a 28-year-old British tourist, was visiting one of the Gili islands with his partner when the quake struck. Speaking from a beach as he awaited evacuation, the teacher told the Press Association: “There were lots of injuries and pain on the island from buildings that had collapsed onto people. The most terrifying part was the tsunami warning that followed. All the locals were frantically running and screaming, putting on life jackets.”



Hospitals are reportedly full and injured people are being treated in carparks and makeshift medical tents.



Fitri, who lives in central Lombok, told CNN Indonesia: “I was wounded after my head was hit with rubble. My stomach hurts [from] carrying my child while I was trying to hold a wall that was collapsing.”



Two helicopters have been deployed to assist in emergency operations, and the military has sent troops and medical personnel as well as medical supplies and communications equipment.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Patients are moved outside of the hospital building after the earthquake was felt in Denpasar, Bali Photograph: Made Nagi/EPA

Government ministers and officials from countries around the region attending a summit on security and counter-terrorism in Mataram were among those evacuated from their hotels.

Singapore’s law and home affairs minister, K Shanmugam, wrote on Facebook that his 10th-floor hotel room shook violently and walls cracked. “It was quite impossible to stand up. Heard screams,” he wrote. “Came out, and made my way down a staircase, while building was still shaking. Power went out for a while. Lots of cracks, fallen doors.”

The Australian home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, said on Twitter everyone from his country’s delegation was safe.

Sunday’s quake was also strongly felt in Bali, where people ran out of houses, hotels, and restaurants. Pictures showed damage to two shopping malls and a temple in Ubud. Despite superficial damage, flights from Lombok airport and Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport continued to operate on Sunday evening.

“All the hotel guests were running, so I did too. People filled the streets,” said Michelle Lindsay, an Australian tourist in Bali. “A lot of officials were urging people not to panic.”

American model Chrissy Teigen was on holiday in Bali with her family when the quake struck, and tweeted throughout the tremors.

christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) another one 😩😩😩 small but please stop, earth

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddles the Pacific “ring of fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.