Would you travel to Lombok and Bali now?
Would you travel to Lombok and Bali now? The straightforward answer for Lombok is a big “NO”, but for Bali, chances for a massive earthquake due to the local Mount Agung volcano eruption is low. Foreign visitors are Not stopped from visiting Bali now but cautions must be taken against earthquake from the neighboring Lombok island.
Magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Lombok
More than 100,000 people remain displaced after Aug 5th Sunday night, when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, a popular and uprising tourist destination. Three other major quakes rocked the island after that, producing more than 350 aftershocks and flattening large portions of the island with building structures destroyed and people killed.
The death toll from the devastating 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia’s Lombok island has risen to over 430, according to officials.
The country’s disaster mitigation agency said that more than 1,033 were hospitalised with injuries due to a series of tremors that struck the island of 3.3 million people in the past two weeks. Nearly three-quarters of residential structures in North Lombok had been destroyed, Sutopo Nugroho, the agency’s spokesperson, said.
On last Thursday, a third strong earthquake in two weeks’ time hit Lombok. The magnitude-6.2 earthquake followed Sunday’s magnitude-6.9 tremor, which came a week after a magnitude-6.4 quake killed at least 17.
For those who intend to visit Indonesia, the FCO advise: “If you’re planning to travel to Lombok, you should keep your plans under close review, seek the advice of your transport and accommodation providers before travelling, and ensure that you have contingency plans and travel insurance in place.”
Striking in the middle of Lombok’s high tourist season, thousands of foreigners were promptly evacuated in the wake of Sunday’s earthquake. Britain and Australia are among numerous embassies that have already issued “do not travel” warnings for Lombok.
Major tourist resorts in southern Bali are operating as normal
Neighboring Bali, the most popular destination in Indonesia and one of the places in Asia most visited by tourists, saw at least two deaths due to the earthquake on Sunday. But it is unlikely to see any considerable damage to its tourism industry. Experts are warning, however, that the less developed, Muslim-majority Lombok will see a sharp decline in visitor numbers for the foreseeable future.
Ngurah Rai Airport (Denpasar) and the major tourist resorts in southern Bali are operating as normal.
AirAsia is also offering recovery options for tourists. Travellers will be able to change their flight free of charge to travel up to 14 days later.
Jetstar has also confirmed that flights are still travelling to Bali, but passengers wanting to change their flights would incur a fee.
It is definitely sad news for me as Bali is one of my favourite travel destinations of all time. I was actually planning to visit Lombok in the near future but think I have to get a rain check for that. Let’s wish Lombok will recover from the disaster as soon as possible and I’m sure people will go back there one day. – Travel Feeder
About The Author
Cecil Lee
The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.
