The white sandy beaches of an idyllic Indonesian island have turned into tourist hell during a panicked evacuation.
Holidaymakers crammed onto the sand on Gili Trawangan near Lombok in a rush to get off the island, but only a handful were able to make it to Bali.
Beaches on the tropical island were packed with crowds of tourists and locals after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake which has left at least 98 dead.
Some Australian travellers were forced to wait all day from dawn on Monday until nightfall to get off Gili Trawangan, which is only accessible by boat.
The white sandy beaches of an idyllic Indonesian island have been transformed from paradise into tourist hell during a panicked evacuation
Holidaymakers crammed onto the sand on Gili Trawangan near Lombok in a rush to get off the island, but only a handful were able to make it to Bali
Beaches on the tropical island were packed with crowds of tourists and locals after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake which has left at least 98 dead
Pictured is Gili Trawangan as it normally appears – the paradise island was transformed into a tourist hell as holidaymakers rushed to escape the island after Sunday’s earthquake
The Indonesian holiday island of Gili Trawangan is normally calm and peaceful – a far cry from this week’s evacuation scenes
The death toll from the quake, which hit Lombok about 6.45pm on Sunday, is expected to rise and could hit 140.
Rescuers are still struggling to reach the worst-affected areas of the Indonesian island, where houses, schools and mosques have been reduced to rubble.
On the Gili Islands, tourists reacted to the tremors by grabbing their belongings and sprinting for higher ground in fear of a tsunami.
Melbourne man Dale Maffescioni was among those who managed to escape Gili Trawangan after his hotel was almost completely demolished in the quake.
On the Gili Islands, tourists reacted to the tremors by grabbing their belongings and sprinting for higher ground in fear of a tsunami
A handout photo made available by the Indonesian West Nusa Tenggara Marine Police shows hundreds of local and foreign tourists gathering on the beach
White sandy beaches on the holiday paradise of Gili Trawangan, lined with palm trees, bars and restaurants (pictured), became the scene of a panicked evacuation after the earthquake
Relieved foreign and domestic tourists arrive in Bali after being evacuated from the Gili islands in Lombok after the earthquake
The earthquake struck in the same location that was hit by a 6.4-magnitude quake that killed 16 people just a week earlier
The 38-year-old and his friends were taken to higher ground when the earthquake hit, and when they returned the found the hotel in ruins.
They were then taken to the harbour to be evacuated off the island, and was able to make it to Bali after a tense night in limbo, Nine News reported.
Mr Maffescioni said he received no help from the Australian government, and claimed his group were ‘basically left to fend to ourselves in a catastrophic event’.
‘I am very disappointed and hurt that there has been no contact from them, I even asked the last person I spoke to this morning to text or arrange a call to even confirm if we got off the island, and still not got anything,’ he said.
‘The worst part was not knowing anything from anyone especially after asking and [texting] for help [from the Australian government] so many times.’
Foreign tourists wait for transportation after locals and tourists were evacuated from the Gili islands north of Lombok, at a port in Bangsal on Indonesia’s Lombok island
Houses damaged by the devastating earthquake are seen in North Lombok, Indonesia – so far 98 people have been confirmed dead
Residents an Indonesian search and rescue personnel look under the ruins of a mosque in Pemenang, North Lombok
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop reconfirmed on Tuesday no Australians have been killed or injured in the disaster and urged tourists to cooperate with local authorities.
‘There are many who want to be evacuated, so allow the authorities to do that,’ Ms Bishop said on Tuesday morning.
Australian consular staff are also working alongside Indonesian authorities to ensure holiday-makers trapped on the Gili Islands are safely evacuated.
Ms Bishop will meet with her Indonesian counterpart on Tuesday, having spoken with her several times in recent days.
‘The Indonesian government has not asked for any assistance. We have said if there’s something we can do to assist in this natural disaster we certainly would offer,’ Ms Bishop said.
Evan Burns was at home with his wife and toddler son on Sunday night when a magnitude-7 earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Lombok
Mr Burns said 70 per cent of people staying at the resort he operates had made a mass exodus to the airport but many people were still stuck on the island
Another Australian, Evan Burns, who manages a resort on Lombok believed he would die alongside his wife and toddler son when the quake struck on Sunday.
The earthquake all but destroyed his home, and he fears some of his neighbours perished in the rubble of their houses.
After surviving the jolt and a series of strong aftershocks, Mr Burns, his wife, and his toddler son made a terrifying, 3km dash up a nearby mountain, fearing the quake may have spawned a deadly tsunami.
Nursing a twisted ankle, the family and about 200 others from their village waited in the dark for the danger to pass.
He has since returned home and is struggling to comprehend the scale of the destruction.
‘The force was so severe that it threw us out of bed, and the walls immediately started cracking,’ he told AAP.
A man has revealed how he though he was going to die when a magnitude-7 earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Lombok
His house is now uninhabitable, having sustained severe structural damage, including a second storey that is caving in. Both windscreens of his car are smashed from falling debris.
Mr Burns estimated 70 per cent of the property’s guests have made their way to the airport, desperate to get off the island, but they are stuck there, with flights unable to cope with the mass exodus.
‘The panic is quite severe. It’s very hard to console the people,’ he said, adding relief flights must be a priority.
Mr Burns is no stranger to natural disasters, having endured other earthquakes, cyclones and tsunami scares, but Sunday’s magnitude-7 quake was the most terrifying of his life.
‘We weren’t sure we were going to make it out alive,’ he said.
So far, at least 98 people have been confirmed dead from the quake, but a local official told Indonesian TV that 142 people had been killed.
Rescuers work on a collapsed mosque in North Lombok after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, leaving homes and places of worship destroyed