Damage toll continues to rise on Lombok

Whilst the death toll continues to rise – and will rise as rescuers scramble through the rubble – the toll mounts on those that remain to try and rebuild their lives. It’s now nearly a week after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island.

Damages and loss caused by last week’s earthquake in Lombok and Bali are estimated to have reached over US$138 million, – this from Indonesia’s national disaster agency.

A spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reports that damaged infrastructure comprises 67,875 houses, 468 schools, six bridges, three hospitals, 10 health centers, 15 mosques, 50 mushola (prayer room) and 20 office buildings. He added that nearly 75 percent of the residential areas in North Lombok regency had been destroyed as it was the worst hit region.

“The BNPB is still estimating the economic losses,” says spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho and reported in The Jakarta Post .

“According to satellite images, the buildings in North Lombok regency (province) suffered massive damages. We are still collecting more information,” Sutopo said.

The BNPB is also reporting that the death toll from the earthquakes has climbed to over 320. 321 deaths have been formally verified and more than 270,000 people had been forced to flee their homes because of a series of tremors over the past two weeks.

SOURCES: Thai PBS, Jakarta Post