Lombok earthquake damage in pictures: Destruction as death toll rises
THE Lombok earthquake has caused devastation across Indonesia with pictures of damage showing the huge rebuilding effort needed.
The 6.9 earthquake on Sunday was followed by another 5.2 magnitude quake on Monday and 5.4 on Tuesday, as well as more than 120 aftershocks.
The tremors were so strong they were also felt in neighbouring island Bali where two people died.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency put the official death toll at 347
Devastating pictures show the horrifying damage as rescuers found victims under wrecked buildings, thousands have been left homeless and tourists have been evacuated from the island.
Lombok had already been hit by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on July 29 that killed 17 people.
The death toll may rise with aftershocks expected to rattle the area and aid agencies say their priority is to now provide shelter for displaced people.
Villagers in Pemenang on Lombok's northwestern shoulder heard cries for help emerging from the mangled concrete of a collapsed minimart.
A woman was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed grocery store but hopes of finding more survivors are fading.
A humanitarian crisis is looming for thousands who have been left homeless and in desperate need of clean water, food, medicine and shelter.
Aid agency Oxfam said it was providing clean drinking water and tarpaulin shelters to 5,000 survivors, but the need was much greater, with more than 20,000 estimated to have been displaced.
Some villagers used sledgehammers and ropes to start clearing the rubble of broken homes, but others, traumatised by continued aftershocks, were too afraid to venture far from tents and tarpaulins set up in open spaces.
Close to 5,000 foreign and domestic tourists had been evacuated from the three Gili islands off the northwest coast of Lombok.