A strong earthquake has struck Lombok, killing at least 39 people and shaking Bali, one week after another quake on Lombok killed more than a dozen.

The latest quake — magnitude 7 — which triggered a brief tsunami warning, damaged buildings as far away as Denpasar in Bali, including a department store and the airport terminal, where ceiling panels were shaken loose, authorities said.

On Lombok, thousands fled from their homes to gather for safety in open spaces.

Muhammad Rum, head of the Disaster Management Agency in the West Nusa Tenggara province, which includes Lombok, told Indonesian TV the death toll had risen to 39.

Earlier, officials said many of those who died were from the northern and western parts of Lombok and that they were still collecting data on the injured.

Singapore Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who was in the Lombok town of Mataram at the time of the quake, wrote on Facebook that his 10th-floor hotel room shook violently and walls cracked.

"It was quite impossible to stand up. Heard screams," he wrote.

"Came out, and made my way down a staircase, while building was still shaking. Power went out for a while. Lots of cracks, fallen doors."

The extent of the damage in both Lombok and Bali is hard to assess due to power blackouts (photo: AP: Firdia Lisnawati)

Video showed screaming people running in panic from houses in a Bali neighbourhood, and vehicles rocking.

On Lombok, soldiers and other rescuers carried injured people on stretchers and carpets to an evacuation centre.

The quake, recorded at magnitude 7.0 by the US Geological Survey, struck early on Sunday evening at a depth of 10.5 kilometres in the northern part of Lombok.

"I was watching TV when I felt a big shake," said Harian, a Lombok woman who uses one name.

"The lamp was shaking and people were shouting, 'Get out'. I ran out into the dark because the power cut off."

The quake was felt for several seconds in Bali, where people ran out of houses, hotels and restaurants.

"All the hotel guests were running so I did too. People filled the streets," said Michelle Lindsay, an Australian tourist.

"A lot of officials were urging people not to panic."

A tsunami warning was lifted after waves just 15 centimetres high were recorded in three villages, said the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati.

Najmul Akhyar, district chief of North Lombok, told MetroTV there was an electrical blackout so he was unable to assess the entire situation, but that at least three people had been killed.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the quake was felt strongly across Lombok and Bali and had damaged houses on both islands.

Iwan Asmara, a Lombok disaster official, said people poured out of their homes in panic to move to higher ground, particularly in North Lombok and Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, which includes Lombok.

The Bali and Lombok airports continued operating on Sunday night, according to the director general of civil aviation.

There had been a half hour evacuation at the Lombok airport following the quake because the electricity went off. TV showed crying women consoling each other outside the airport.

A magnitude 6.4 quake hit Lombok on July 29, killing 17 people.

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