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Travel alert issued in wake of deadly Lombok earthquake

A travel alert for British holidaymakers was issued in the wake of a deadly earthquake on the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok.

Almost 100 people are reported to have been killed and hundreds injured in the north of the island as the powerful quake hit on Sunday.

A tsunami warning was issued but was lifted after a few hours.

The magnitude seven tremor was shallow, occurring less than seven miles underground. It damaged thousands of buildings and triggered power cuts.

Video footage on the neighbouring island of Bali showed people running from their homes screaming.

More than 130 aftershocks have been reported since the earthquake struck on Sunday morning.

Many buildings had been affected in Lombok’s main city of Mataram, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency told the AFP news agency. Most of them had been built with weak construction materials.

The quake also affected the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok, popular with divers.

A tweet from the head of the country’s disaster mitigation agency said 1,000 foreign tourists have been evacuated from the islands.

Airports on both Lombok and Bali are both operating normally despite some minor damage.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued revised travel advice, saying:  “On 5 August 2018, the north east of the island of Lombok experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 followed by a number of other smaller earthquakes in the same area.

“Initial reports indicate damage to buildings in Lombok, the Gili Islands and Bali.

“If you’re in the area, you should monitor local media, exercise caution and follow the advice of the local authorities.”

This followed a series of earthquakes last weekend on Lombok, resulting in a number of casualties.

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