Status: 16.10.2021 4:51 p.m.
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Bali. Three people were killed and seven others were injured. Only a few days ago the government had reopened the island to tourists.
At least three people were killed in an earthquake on the Indonesian island of Bali. Seven others were seriously injured, the authorities announced. According to the civil protection authorities, several houses collapsed in the 4.8 magnitude quake in Karangasem and Bangli districts. A highway was blocked by a landslide.
“We have searched the whole area and we do not expect the number of deaths to rise any further,” said the provincial civil defense chief Gede Darmada. Two people were killed in a landslide triggered by the quake in Bangali district, and another in the port city of Karangasem.
Bali only recently reopened to tourists
The center of the quake was northwest of Karangasem at a depth of ten kilometers. The Indonesian government reopened Bali to tourists from 19 countries on Thursday. The local authorities do not expect larger numbers of visitors until next month, as the foreign airlines would not have applied for slots beforehand.
There are always violent earthquakes in Indonesia. The Southeast Asian island state is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet and the seismic activity is particularly high. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a series of devastating tsunamis on the coasts of the Indian Ocean. A total of 220,000 people died, including 170,000 in Indonesia.