New quake jolts Indonesia's Lombok
Jakarta, Aug 9 : An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Lombok Island on Thursday, less than a week after a major earthquake in the region left at least 168 people dead, more than 1,500 injured and 156,000 affected.
The US Geological Survey said the hypocentre was located at a depth of 10 km and 23 km from Mataram, the capital of the province, reports Efe news.
The quake caused people to rush out of their houses and damaged some buildings, National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
In an earlier tweet, Sutopo had raised the death toll from the 6.9 magnitude quake that struck the island on Sunday to 168, adding that official data on casualties was slow due to the verification process.
He referred to informal figures provided by other entities, which in one case put the number of deaths at 381. The agency also reported that 1,467 people have been hospitalised and more than 156,000 displaced.
The search and rescue teams on Thursday continue to try to locate victims or survivors under the rubble of thousands of demolished buildings.
The Sunday quake occurred a week after another 6.4-magnitude tremor struck Lombok and left 16 people dead, 355 injured and 1,500 buildings destroyed.
The Indonesian archipelago is situated along the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area known for its intense seismic and volcanic activity, which produce about 7,000 earthquakes each year, most of which are of moderate magnitude.
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.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
