People in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) woke up on Sunday morning to a magnitude 6.4 earthquake rattling their island at 5:47 a.m.

The jolt was felt on the neighboring islands of Sumbawa in NTB and Bali, which is located around 40 kilometers west of Lombok.

As of Sunday evening, the NTB Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) recorded 14 fatalities in the disaster. Four of the victims were in North Lombok regency when the earthquake struck and 10 were in East Lombok, the regency worst hit by the disaster.

One of the deceased in East Lombok was identified as 30-year-old Malaysian citizen Isma Wida.

East Lombok Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eka Fathur Rahman said Isma and 17 other tourists from Malaysia had been staying at a lodge at Sembalun, Lombok, when the earthquake destroyed several buildings in the area, including the one they had been staying in.

Sahduddin, the owner of the lodge, said a magnitude 5.7 aftershock had completely torn down the lodging, killing Isma and injuring seven others of the group.

He said the group had just come down from the mountain before the disaster took place. “They checked in at 4.00 a.m. this morning.”

Malaysian Deputy Chief of Mission to Indonesia Zamshari Shaharan said the embassy was trying to get detailed information on the incident, as reported by news agency Bernama.

The diplomat said that the 150 Malaysian students on Lombok were all safe.

The quake caused a landslide on Mount Rinjani, prompting the closure of Rinjani’s trekking routes.

As of Sunday evening, personnel from the Mount Rinjani National Park Management Agency (BTNGR), a search and rescue team and police were still evacuating climbers from the mountain. Park records show there were 826 local and foreign hikers when the earthquake happened, 115 of whom have been evacuated.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said the earthquake had injured more than 160 people and destroyed at least 1,000 buildings across the island.

“The number might increase, because we are not done collecting data,” BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, adding that many of the casualties were killed or injured because of falling debris from buildings.

The BPBD has distributed food, water and tents. However, Sutopo said they still urgently needed more medical crews and equipment, palanquins, children’s clothes and instant foods.

The Social Affairs Ministry has deployed 60 volunteers under the Taruna Siaga Bencana, a team offering psychosocial support and supplies, such as mattresses, tents, items for children and the elderly and instant food.

“Help is on the way,” said the Social Affairs Ministry’s director general for social security and protection, Harry Hikmat. “We’re trying to distribute the aid to the victims as quickly as possible.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who is touring Sumbawa for a working visit, decided to make a short detour to Lombok on Monday to visit the affected areas.

“We hope [the emergency effort] can be organized this afternoon [Sunday] or tomorrow morning [Monday], so that [authorities] from the central, provincial and regency governments can act together,” the President said in Sumbawa after he led a meeting on emergency efforts.

The earthquake occurred about 47 km northeast of NTB’s capital of Mataram at a depth of 24 km and was followed by 244 aftershocks as of Sunday evening, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said.

“These earthquakes will not cause any tsunami,” BMKG head Dwikorita said. “We want everyone to stay alert but remain calm and not panic.” (stu)

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