Strong aftershock rattles survivors of deadly Indonesian quake

A strong aftershock struck Indonesia's Lombok Thursday, causing panic among evacuees already traumatised by a devastating earthquake that killed more than 160 on the holiday island four days earlier.

The 5.9-magnitude quake struck at a shallow depth in the northwest of the island, the US Geological Survey said, even as relief agencies raced to find survivors among the wreckage from Sunday's quake.

It was the strongest of some 355 aftershocks that have rattled the island since Sunday, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Evacuees at a shelter in northern Lombok's Tanjung district ran out onto the road crying and screaming, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

A 5.9-magnitude quake aftershock struck at a shallow depth in the northwest of Lombok Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, even as relief agencies raced to find survivors among the wreckage from Sunday's quake