10 Nov 2009

Quake hits Sumbawa Is in Indonesia

2:14 pm on 10 November 2009

A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook the Indonesian island of Sumbawa in the early hours of Monday morning, killing one person.

The head of Indonesia's health ministry crisis centre says 38 injured people were taken to hospital.

One man in the town of Bima died after he was hit by falling debris.

The quake's epicentre was about 16km from the town of Raba, at a depth of 18km, the United States Geological Survey said. The earthquake struck at 3:41am local time.

An official from Indonesia's meteorology agency told the Reuters news agency there had been reports of panic in Mataram, the capital of Lombok, where a strong tremor was felt.

Indonesia is situated in an area of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire".