New 6.3-magnitude quake jolts Indonesia's Lombok
Jakarta, Aug 19 : An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's Lombok island on Sunday, weeks after three previous tremors in the same region killed 467 people.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) located the hypocentre at a depth of 10 km and 58 km northeast of Mataram, the island's capital, reports Efe news.
Officials said they were looking still assessing the situation following the latest quake on Sunday.
"The earthquake caused people to panic and flee their homes," the national disaster agency the BBC quoted National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho as saying.
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake had struck the region on August 5 and was followed by over 500 aftershocks, including one of magnitude 5.9 on August 9.
According to latest official figures, over 417,000 people have been displaced, 72,000 houses, 671 schools, 52 hospitals and 128 places of worship have been damaged.
On July 29, another 6.4-magnitude quake left 16 dead, 355 injured and 1,500 buildings damaged.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activities, where some 7,000 earthquakes, mostly moderate, are recorded each year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump confronts South African president over killing of white farmers
Washington, May 21 (AP): President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing his country of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety," said Trump, who at one point dimmed the lights in the Oval Office to play a video of a communist politician playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer. "Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they're being killed."
Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's accusation. The South African leader had sought to use the meeting to set the record straight and salvage his country's relationship with the United States. The bilateral relationship is at its lowest point since South Africa enforced its apartheid system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994.
“We are completely opposed to that,” Ramaphosa said of the behaviour alleged by Trump in their exchange.
Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
