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October 14, 2011

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Dozens injured as earthquake hits Bali

INDONESIA'S resort island of Bali was struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake yesterday, injuring dozens and sending tourists running from hotels.

The Red Cross said 44 people in the south of the island were hurt, some with head injuries and broken bones from falling ceilings. One person is in a critical condition and a school and a house collapsed.

The epicenter of the quake was about 160 kilometers southwest of the island's capital Denpasar, according to the US geological survey.

Caroline Mercier, a 40-year-old tourist in the island's cultural center of Ubud, said she was used to feeling quakes in California, but never like this one.

She said: "It started at my feet and went all though my heart and head - it made me nauseous. My first reaction was to get out of the house. I was very confused when the roof started shaking."

Novotel Bali Benoa, one of many resorts in the luxury southern beach area of Nusa Dua, ushered guests out as the hotel shook for a minute.

A hotel worker said: "Foreign guests sitting in the lobby did not feel the shaking. They started running when they heard people say 'there is an earthquake' while running down the lobby."

Nusa Dua will be the venue for a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders next month, including US President Barack Obama, and an aftershock disrupted preparatory meetings as officials ran outside.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations Director Djauhari Oratmangun said: "It is hard to continue. Many members of delegations must return to their countries tonight."

Some sunbathers on the southern beach at Kuta, popular with surfers and Australian tourists, also started running, though swimmers appeared not to notice, according to a local website.

Endro Tjahjono, head of information at Bali's meteorology agency, said there was no tsunami potential. He said cracks appeared in walls and glass windows of his office.

The sprawling Indonesian archipelago is on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire" and gets regular earthquakes.




 

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