#LombokEarthquake: Guide to surviving the aftermath for stranded tourists

ON JULY 29, 2018, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake jolted West Nusa Tenggara and Lombok.

In the days to come, more than 1,000 hikers would be successfully rescued from Mount Rinjani.

A week later, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Lombok, its nearby Gili islands, and Bali. More powerful than the last, it flattened houses, toppled bridges, and killed a reported 142 people.

To date, 70,000 people have been left homeless and up to 2,000 tourists on the nearby Gili islands had to be evacuated by emergency services after the jetty was damaged.

While many tourists have been transported back to Lombok and Bali, the situation remains dire in certain areas in the Indonesian region, with reports of no electricity, no mobile connection, no access to sanitation facilities, lack of medicine and medical attention, no food, and no water.

Aid and assistance from the Indonesian government, military, and aid agencies have arrived, but due to the severity of the damage, the authorities are struggling to deliver them to some areas.

Devastation and Tragedy. – On Sunday evening an earthquake hit North Lombok and the surrounding islands. Hundreds of locals and tourists including myself were based on the islands at the time; I have never before experienced anything like this and hope to never do so in the future… – The earthquake killed over 100 people and has left thousands of locals homeless after the destruction it’s caused. – We spent a very long night on top of an open hill with little to no blankets; many didn’t even have time to get shoes on before running to safety. The aftershocks came every hour or so, calming down through the night. – The following day was just as chaotic as the entire island was evacuated. Locals closed all shops and restaurants, hopped on their boats and were the first to flee with only a few staying behind to help us find food and water which was scarce. – After an incredibly long day we were evacuated onto a ferry at 11:30pm at night and taken to Bali mainland – where we arrived at around 7am safely, we were taken to Denpasar airport from there and most people including myself booked the first flight out of Bali. – My thoughts go out to all those who lost loved ones, who were injured and the many who have lost their homes and I pray that there will be no more tragedy for these people. – I hope a team of professionals can make it over to the islands as soon as it is safe in order to start restoring them back to ‘normality’ although I know this will take a very long time ? – I’ve had many friends messaging me about their future plans to Bali, and all I can say is be careful. The islands are off limits and will be a no go altogether, but even on mainland a lot of buildings were affected by the earthquake and many of my friends out here felt it too. – No one knows what the repercussions will be if there is another one and although you’d like to think the authorities know when they are coming; they had no idea this second one was going to happen a week after the first Lombok earthquake. Keep that in mind – make smart decisions and stay safe. You can always go back another time.

A post shared by Kirsty McNamara (@kirstymacaroni) on Aug 7, 2018 at 9:31pm PDT

The Indonesian Tourism Ministry has established the Tourism Crisis Center in Lombok to help foreign and domestic tourists who are trapped in the region.

The center will take on tasks including transporting tourists on the affected Gili islands (Trawangan, Air, and Meno) to Lombok, as well as exploring heavily affected areas in search of tourists who require help.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has requested shipping and airline companies to provide extra ships and aircraft to transport stranded tourists from Lombok to Bali, Surabaya, and Jakarta, on top of providing 10 buses to transport travelers to seaports and airports.

According to Tourism Crisis Management Deputy Director Dessy Ruhati, the Lombok International Airport is currently operating a full 24 hours a day to accommodate extra flights requested to and from overseas.

For those who can’t travel as of yet, there are 25 rooms that can be used for free in Mataram in West Lombok, as well as food and water.

Our entire experience on #gilitrawangan feels so surreal. @katie.mccurry and I had spent the day snorkeling and swimming with turtles. We were on our way to dinner to meet up with people we met at the bar the night before when the 7.0 earthquake hit . At first it seemed like the wind was picking up and rattling the windows around us. Then the shaking got worse and we heard things crashing around us. We fell to the ground and the lights went off. Once the shaking stopped we heard people coming out of the hotel, everyone was panicking and unsure of what to do. We were told to go up the hill because there was a tsunami warning. People around us were wearing bed sheets and life jackets. Some were screaming and looking for their friends and family. After a few hours we rushed back down the hill to grab warmer clothes, sheets and pillows. Terrified there would be more aftershocks we quickly made our way back to the hill to sleep, unsure of what we would wake up to. . . . . . . #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #optoutside #wanderlust #wanderer #doyoutravel #igtravel #travelawesome #wonderful_places #bestplacestogo #lonelyplanet #indonesia #lombok #earthquake

A post shared by Theresa Baldino (@the.baldino) on Aug 8, 2018 at 7:31pm PDT

Meanwhile, the West Nusa Tenggara tourist office post along with the Lombok tourist polytechnic team is operating a food truck at the West Nusa Tenggara tourist office.

The food truck, which has been in operation since Sunday, offers instant noodles, cookies, biscuits, coffee, tea, milk and teh tarik (pulled tea) to earthquake-affected tourists.

To date, more than 1,500 affected tourists have enjoyed the free food and beverages provided by the food truck.

Tourists who have been affected by the Lombok earthquake can contact the Foreign Visitor Help Desk at +62 878 6412 4151. The help desk can also respond to WhatsApp messages and help tourists who have lost their passports.

“Tourists with expired visas will not be subject to penalties. The Foreign Ministry will assist those in need of visa renewal,” kompas.com quoted Arief as saying.

While the ministry is focused on helping tourists, serious attention is being given by social affairs agencies to locals as well.

Many good Samaritans have also extended help, setting up GoFundMe pages to raise money for to help the locals affected by the earthquakes, such as Earthquake Relief for Lombok, EARTHQUAKE Lombok ForgottenChildren, and Help Lombok Communities, among others.

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Source: travelwireasia.com