The 6.4 magnitude quake struck early on Sunday near Mount Rinjani on Lombok island, triggering landslides that cut off escape routes.

At least 16 people died and more than 330 were injured.

Rescue officials said many of the mostly foreign hikers were unlikely to reach the bottom before nightfall.

What is the situation on Mount Rinjani?

The national park authority said on Monday that a key route to the peak had been cleared and a helicopter was dropping supplies to hikers still on the slopes.

Rescue official Agus Hendra Sanjaya told AFP news agency that the hikers were believed to have enough supplies to last "another one to two days".

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, from the national disaster mitigation agency, said that when the quake struck there had been as many as 820 people on Mount Rinjani.

Among the foreigners climbing the volcano were 337 Thai tourists, with French, Dutch and Spanish making up the next-largest contingents.

The volcano, which rises 3,726m (12,224ft) above sea level and is the second-highest volcano in the country, is a favourite among sightseers.

What happened when the quake struck?

A Malaysian tourist on a hiking trip to Mount Rinjani was among those killed. Another young Indonesian hiker was also killed by falling rocks.

US tourist John Robyn Buenavista described seeing people pinned to the ground by fallen debris.

"At one point, I saw people with half of their bodies stuck in the rocks and I just couldn't move. I felt paralysed and stopped moving. The guides were screaming, 'Don't die, don't die'," he told Reuters.

"One of the guides had to shake me and take me by the hand. He told me that I had to go, and that they would be OK."

A group of Malaysian tourists, who have now reached safety, had earlier appealed for help on Facebook.

Rebecca Henschke, BBC Indonesian, Lombok

The only health centre in Sembalun at the foothills of Mount Rinjani was damaged in the earthquake, so tents have been set up to treat the injured until ambulances arrive to take them to the nearest hospital.

Indonesians are no strangers to earthquakes but the power of the latest one has put people on edge. After each aftershock people run out into the open.

Clouds are gathering over Mount Rinjani where rescue workers are slowly bringing down the remaining hikers via alternative routes not affected by landslides.

In the tents among the injured is a porter who rushed down the mountain when the earthquake struck and is being treated for dehydration.

Videos filmed by guides on mobile phones captured the terrifying moment when the quake hit with people yelling for everyone to come down.

Are earthquakes common in Indonesia?

Yes. Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire - the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.

More than half of the world's active volcanoes above sea level are part of the ring

source: bbc

The most compelling argument for the creation of a single and properly empowered agency or department for disaster management is the existing National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The need for such congressional act has become imperative.

The NDRRMC’s nomenclature and unpronounceable acronym cries out for radical change. Its Filipino name, Pambansang Tanggapan Para sa Pagtugon sa Sakuna, is only slightly more comprehensible.

Created under Republic Act 10121 in 2010, the NDRRMC was envisioned as a coordinating group of various government, non-government, civil sector and private sector organizations. It is administered by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) under the Department of National Defense (DND). The Council utilizes the UN cluster approach to disaster management.

Conceived in this way – for coordination and as a cluster – the council will fundamentally be always engaged in a losing fight with emergency and disaster, especially those that demand timely and immediate intervention, relief, recovery and rehabilitation. No wonder, our government has been found helpless and inadequate by various natural disasters, including Supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan), flooding and earthquake disasters.

Given this history under successive administrations, we are consequently in agreement with the legislative proposal of President Rodrigo Duterte, in his third State of the Nation Address, that the Congress should create by law, as a matter of priority, a department for disaster management.

Specifically, the President told Congress, “To help safeguard the present and the future generations, we have to earnestly undertake initiatives to reduce our vulnerabilities to natural hazards and bolster our resilience to the impact of natural disasters and climate change.

“… We must learn from (our) experiences from Supertyphoon Yolanda and other mega disasters, and from global best practices. We need a truly empowered department characterized by a unity of command, science-based approach and full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters, and the wherewithal to take charge of the disaster risk reduction; preparedness and response; with better recovery and faster rehabilitation.”

“Hence, we, in the Cabinet, have approved for immediate endorsement to Congress the passage of a law creating the Department of Disaster Management … an inter-agency crafted and a high-priority measure aimed at genuinely strengthening our country’s capacity for [resilience]to natural disasters. I fervently appeal to Congress to pass this bill with utmost urgency. Our people’s safety requirements cannot wait.”

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos has suggested, as a model for the proposed department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States.

FEMA’s record is not all that sterling. It got caught with its pants down during the hurricane Katrina emergency in New Orleans and Louisiana. But it has been performing better since.

The crucial point, however, is that FEMA is solely devoted to disaster response and relief during times of emergency and crisis in America.

Our policy must take a similar thrust.

Twenty typhoons visit the Philippines every year, and we live under the ever-present threats of floods, earthquakes and droughts that ruin lives, infrastructure, homes and farm-based livelihood.

Our resiliency programs should be able to snap into place every time there is a disaster or emergency. That’s what a dedicated agency or department is all about.

source: http://www.manilatimes.net