Bali (Indonesia): Three people were killed and seven others were injured when a moderately strong earthquake and an aftershock hit Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Saturday. The quake hit just before dawn, causing people to run outdoors in a panic. It struck just two days after the island reopened to international travellers as Coronavirus cases decline.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 4.8 quake was centred 62 kilometres (38.5 miles) northeast of Singaraja, a Bali port town. Its shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) may have amplified the amount of damage. A magnitude 4.3 aftershock followed. That quake was relatively deep, at 282 kilometres (174 miles).
The earthquake triggered landslides in a hilly district, killing at least two people and cutting off access to at least three villages. It toppled homes and temples in Karangasem, the area closest to the epicentre, killing a three-year-old girl, who was hit by falling debris, an official said. Known as the “island of the gods,” Bali is home to more than four million mostly Hindu people in mainly Muslim Indonesia.
It is famed for its temples, scenic volcanos and beautiful white-sand beaches. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that spans the Pacific Ocean.
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AP
