Death toll hits 168 as search continues after major Indonesia quake

JAKARTA. KAZINFORM The death toll from Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has risen to 168, authorities announced Thursday as another strong aftershock hit the island.

The aftershock having a magnitude of 5.9 occurred at 1:25 p.m. but the Jakarta-based Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency did not issue a tsunami warning, KYODO NEWS reports.

There were no immediate reports of new casualties from the latest quake, which was centered in the island's northwest and occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Video footage released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed people running in a panic and heading in cars to higher ground.

The geophysics agency earlier said that 355 aftershocks had hit the island as of Thursday morning.

On Wednesday night it urged local residents to stay away from hilly areas, particularly during the rain, as some cracks and landslides have been spotted in parts of East and North Lombok following Sunday's earthquake. Authorities fear aftershocks could trigger more slips.

The major quake has forced about 156,000 people from their homes, with nearly 43,000 houses and other buildings damaged or destroyed, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. More than 1,400 people were injured.

Most deaths occurred on Lombok. Many victims died after being buried under collapsed homes, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.