TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 73 aftershocks as of 00:00 Monday after a powerful magnitude-7 earthquake rocked East Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province on Sunday night.

The aftershocks had steadily declining intensity, the BMKG said in a statement received early Monday.

As the local residents still felt the aftershocks, they opted to save themselves in open space, the agency said.

An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa in the province on Sunday night.

The BMKG said the magnitude-7 quake was the main shock of the series of quakes which hit the province earlier.

The magnitude 7 quake almost had the same epicenter as the magnitude 6.4 quake which hit the province on July 29 this year.

Judging by its epicenter, hypcenter depth and source mechanism, the quake is a shallow quake due to the activity of Flores back arc trust.

The quake which rattled the two islands at 06.46 p.m. local time on Sunday was centered 8.3 degrees southern latitude and 116.48 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 15 kilometers.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) issued a tsunami early warning shortly after the quake and lifted it at 09.25 p.m. local time on Sunday.

ANTARA