14 dead after major earthquake hits tourist island of Lombok

A powerful magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck the popular Indonesian tourist destination of Lombok, killing 14 people and injuring hundreds.

According to advice from Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, the earthquake damaged more than 1,000 buildings and was felt across a wide area.

It hit the northern part of Lombok island early on Sunday morning when many people were still sleeping.

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake, which was quickly followed by an aftershock of magnitude-5.4 in the same area, was centred 50 kilometres north-east of the city of Mataram.

Disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the number of casualties could increase as information is still being collected from across the island.

He said the East Lombok district was the hardest hit with at least 10 deaths. 10 people in the district also suffered major injuries, another 10 people had minor injuries and dozens of houses were damaged.

In a further update on Twitter, he said at least three other individuals had died in North Lombok and 637 were injured or affected in the region.

Nugroho said most of the fatalities and injuries were caused by falling slabs of concrete.

In a short statement to the ABC, the Australian Consulate General in Bali confirmed that no Australians are believed to be among those affected at this stage.

The Consulate General said it has been in contact with local authorities and are monitoring the situation closely.

Indonesian authorities are searching collapsed homes looking for more victims.

Nugroho said the earthquake also triggered a large landslide from Mount Rinjani, a popular trekking destination, advising in a statement "Rinjani mountain climbing is closed temporarily because there are indication of landslide around the mountain.”

Local news Metro TV reported that people were still sleeping when the first earthquake hit and they quickly fled their houses in panic, adding that most of the people were still waiting outside their houses in fear of aftershocks.

A magnitude 6.4-earthquake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage.

Earth quakes are common in Indonesia, which is located on the seismically active ‘Ring of Fire’ that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Image: Mount Rinjani's active volcano.