A 7 magnitude earthquake ravaged the Indonesian island of Lombok. At least 37 individuals have been reported dead and 50 injured during the seismic activity, a 2nd occurrence in the span of a week.
The first quake incurred a death toll of 16, affecting the local tourist industry. The coastal town is known to travellers of Southeast Asia as good hiking and sea-faring destination.
Chrissy Teigen who is vacationing in nearby Bali witnessed the earthquake first hand from relatively safe distance.
Oh man. We are on stilts. It felt like a ride. 15 solid seconds of “hooooooly shit this is happening”
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) August 5, 2018
Her live-Tweeting brought the natural disaster to the attention of many in the Western Hemisphere. As you can see, the seismic activity was even felt from a neighbouring country in the peninsula.
The US Geological Survey says the quake struck from ten kilometres below the earth’s crust. A Tsunami warning posted then lifted after the initial quake, might be reinstated to cope with the tragedy.
Many of the buildings that collapsed this afternoon were built with shoddy materials according to a member of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency that spoke with AFP news.
Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquake largely because it lies on the perimeter of what geologists referred to as “The Ring of Fire.” More than half of the World’s volcanic activity occurs within the peninsula Lombok calls home.
