Bali & World News and Views Editor’s Comments:
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| Bali & World News and Views Editor Lawrence Looking out to Sunrise over Lombok Island |
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| Mt. Rinjani On Lombok Island Close to Epicenter of 7.2 Mag Quake on Aug 5th. |
This past week we hosted several young European
adults at our Bali Paradise Beach Estates.
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| Bali Paradise Beach Estates number three where young Europeans traveled to after experience Lombok earthquake |
When I found out that most of them had just
travelled from Lombok and many of them had experienced the horrific Aug 5th. 2018 - 7.2
earthquake that took over 450 lives and has left over 300,000 people homeless I
asked if any of them had any harrowing experiences during the shakes.
One of the group, Julie whose last name shall
remain anonymous, recalls that night in detail and was willing to share with
myself and our readers her own detailed memories of that terrible night.
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| Julie and her boyfriend on Lombok after earthquake |
Julie------. Comments Recalls Horrific 7.2 Earthquake Au. 5th. 2018
The thing is you never know in what situation you are in when something
happens that will stick in your memories forever.
In my case I was laying on a table with my legs up getting an intimate
wax.
My boyfriend was waiting outside the room of a spa and waxing store in
Sengigi, a touristy resort town north of Mataram, the main city of Lombok
Island.
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| Lombok resort of Sengigi |
Suddenly it all started shaking and I got eye contact with the lady
waxing me to check that I was not the only one feeling this. I clearly wasn’t
the only one I could see the fear in her eyes.
As soon as we both realized the situation I flew out of my chair and we
ran towards the exit. My boyfriend was yelling my name and for me to get out with him. Before we could reach the door, everything went dark, running straight
was difficult and it felt like the shakes got stronger and stronger.
On the way out, we could feel some parts of the paint from the ceiling falling
on us while the sound of chaos surrounded everything: Windows breaking, walls
cracking and people screaming.
The whole city was completely dark, and people were gathered in the
streets hugging, crying, or walked around confused.
Just next to us was a girl getting stitched right on the street, because
she fell from her motorbike.
You could see the panic spreading in everybody, especially the local
people who were calling friends and families with tears in their eyes and
checking the local news for tsunami warnings.
Even scarred and desperate the girls from the store offered us a ride
home, but we knew the only thing they wanted was to be safe at home with their
families.
I felt so confused, lost and scarred at that moment.
I didn't know what to do or where to go.
Helpless I tried to concentrate, to calm down, to tell myself everything
will be alright, but at that moment it just felt so unreal and unable to
describe.
My boyfriend and I decided to drive with our scooter back to our hostel
up north, because it was the only place we knew.
We realized fast that all the traffic drove the opposite way of us and
the people were fleeing from the direction we wanted to go.
Now we started to see more and more of the destruction along the way.
Houses completely ruined, holes and cracks in the ground, big trees
falling on the way.
A motorbike was destroyed laying in front of a huge rock on
the street that had rolled down from the hills.
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| Huge cracks after 7.2 earthquake on Lombok |
We drove trough all the ruins starting to regret our decision more and
more going this way.
I asked myself: "Why are we driving all the way alone in the dark when
there could be a tsunami or an after shake every time?!"
But we wanted to see if there are still people in our hostel.
The result was horrible, the whole hostel had fallen apart.
Nothing was found where it was, and you could see already from the
entrance that the chaos was happening here.
On the way we saw some locals parking their motorbikes on top of the
hill which was probably the only safe place to go.
The local guys were nice and brought us further up the hill where
hundreds of people were seeking refuge from the ocean and their broken
houses.
Many people talked about tsunami warnings which gave us this horrible
feeling that the danger was not over and that there a Tsunami that could hit at
any moment.
The aftershocks brought up this helpless feeling again, many people were
crying and praying for it to stop.
As the only foreigners at this location we had nobody to talk to. All we
had was a wet beach towel to sleep on the hard ground and the hope that everything
would be over soon.
It was a long night and my boyfriend was probably the only one who could
sleep a few hours.
The sunrise on the hill was ironically beautiful and everybody started
walking down looking for what was left of their houses.
Fortunately, several people from our hostel were waiting in front of it
trying to figure out what to do next.
We met the owner of the hostel who was wondering around with an
expression you couldn't describe. He had lost everything and was so out of his
mind trying to save at least something from what was left.
The Bintang beers from inside the fridge was probably the only thing he
could find. So, he started the day with a beer at 6:30 in the morning and
offered us some as well. He allowed us to go inside and get all our stuff from
our rooms.
We decided that it's best to leave the Island, before everybody began
trying to do so.
A friend of the hostel took us in the back of his pick-up truck and
drove us down to the Tourist Resort of Sengigi.
Some backpackers got a bottle of vodka out drank some shots on the way.
Seeing all the ruins by daylight was even more horrible and I realized
that almost every house was destroyed.
Our next step was to hire a taxi for an insanely high price to drive us
to the harbor to find the slow ferry back to Bali and our way out of the chaos.
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| Young tourists evacuating to Bali |
It was an intensive and shocking experience which I never want to feel
again.
Just thinking about that night on the hill, brings that helpless feeling
again.
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A young European At Bali Paradise Beach Estates looking out over theBandung straits towards Lombok which endured a 7.2 earthquake on August 5, 2018
But the worst thing is probably that we as tourists could just leave the
place, we could just leave it behind and not come back. The people who live there
can't, they lost everything: Their houses, their valuables and the worst thing
is many of them lost their friends and families.
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We thank Julie for sharing her experience so others can feel first-hand just how terrifying an earthquake is.
I can only imagine what it's like to live for several weeks over Lombok with aftershock after aftershock. I can't help but think that their subconscious minds will take decades to forget this nightmare.
If you wish to make contributions you can drop them off at our office at Emerald villas in Sanur at Jalan Karangsari # 5 , Sanur, Bali .
I personally make sure that all cash and donations reaches the people who need it,
We have already made company and personal contributions and we hope that you will see it in your heart to do the same.
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| Lawrence two sons with recent contributions to the Gandhi school charity for Lombok victims |
To do the same. Call 284-8069 to find out more information about dropping off contributions Sanur.
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A new video has revealed the devastation left on Lombok, Indonesia, after the island was hit by an earthquake last week. The incredible drone footage, shot by videographers Rory Brown and Matt Yower, starts with a close shot of bricks piled on the ground. But as the camera steadily begins to pan away, it reveals houses, walls and other infrastructure completely turned to rubble. Loaded: 0% 0:31Progress: 0% PauseMute Current Time 0:31 / Duration Time 1:30 Fullscreen When the drone finally reaches its highest point, the destruction can be seen spread out across the island below. A magnitude 7.0 quake hit Lombok, the Gili archipelago and neighbouring Bali on August 5. The national disaster agency now say that over 430 people have died. The drone footage of the island was shared on Instagram by Project Karma, a charity against child sexual exploitation who are now working to supply earthquake relief. The drone footage reveals devastation left on paradise island Lombok after earthquake (Picture: @rjbrowntown) The camera pans away to show detroyed houses and walls (Picture: @rjbrowntown)
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/15/drone-footage-reveals-devastation-left-on-island-lombok-after-earthquake-7841131/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
The impact of the earthquake on Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok
Hotels in Lombok damaged by the strong earthquake plan to reopen as soon as possible to enable tourists to come back, and to help cushion the impact on the local economy. Many hotels in the west coast town of Senggigi popular among tourists, are closed for repairs after Sunday’s deadly earthquake. Channel NewsAsia’s Saifulbahri Ismail reports.
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