MATARAM: Multiple earthquakes — including a powerful and shallow 6.9-magnitude tremor — struck Indonesia’s Lombok on Sunday, sending fresh panic coursing through the already battered island.

Four significant quakes were recorded by seismologists on Sunday, the first measuring 6.3 shortly before midday which triggered landslides and sent people fleeing for cover.

It was followed nearly twelve hours later by a late evening quake measuring 6.9 and two aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.3 strength, according to the US Geological Survey.

The picturesque island is already reeling from two devastating quakes on July 29 and August 5 that killed nearly 500 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the late evening quakes on an island where many have chosen to sleep in tents in recent weeks because of regular aftershocks.

One local resident said the powerful tremor jolted him awake. “The earthquake was incredibly strong. Everything was shaking,” Agus Salim said. “We were all sleeping in an evacuation tent. I had just fallen asleep when suddenly it started to shake.... Everyone ran into the street screaming and crying.”

Landslides were reported in a national park on Mount Rinjani where hundreds of hikers had been briefly trapped after the quake in late July. The park has been closed since then.

Local disaster mitigation agency spokesman Agung Pramuja said several houses and other structures in the district of Sembalun, on the slopes of Mount Rinjani, collapsed on Sunday after being damaged by the previous two quakes.

Sunday’s tremors were also felt on the neighbouring resort island of Bali but there were no reports of damage.

The latest tremor comes two weeks after a shallow 6.9-magnitude quake on Aug 5 damaged tens of thousands of homes, mosques and businesses across Lombok. At least 481 people died and thousands were injured.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2018