Caught on camera, Imam leads Isya prayers during earthquake

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The 7-magnitude earthquake that jolted West Nusa Tenggara on Sunday (Aug 5) night also felt by people in neighboring island, Bali. A video recorded at as-Syuhada, Bali, showed a touching moment of Muslim's reaction to the major quake.

Initially, the video was prepared to be aired through live on Facebook's feature. The video then went viral on social medias.

In Musholla As-Syuhada's Facebook account, an Imam was amazingly seen to continue to lead Isha prayers although the mosque building was shaking.

Muslims performed Isha prayers at as-Syuhada Mosque, Bali, on Sunday (Aug 5). The imam continued his duty to lead the prayers during 7-magnitude earthquake.

The Imam was reciting the last verses of al-Fatihah on the second rak'ah when the quake began. Some of the congregation cancelled their prayer and ran out the mosque.

Meanwhile, some other preferred to stay with the Imam and filled in the empty front row. With one hand, the Imam tried to hold on to the wall on his left as the shock was getting more intense.

He tried hard to not get fell. With trembling voice, the Imam continued the prayers by reading al-Baqarah of the Holy Quran verse 255, known as verse of Throne or Ayatul-Kursi.

A couple minutes later, some of the congregation came back to finish their Isha prayers. The Imam managed to lead the prayers to the end.

No one at as-Syuhada mosque injured by the quake.

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said the magnitude-7 quake was the main shock of the series of quakes which hit the West Nusa Tenggara province earlier. It 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 death toll of NTB earthquake has reached 91 as of Monday. The figure was predicted to increase as search process continues.

Of the 91 dead victims, 72 were found in the Districts of North Lombok, 9 bodies in West Lombok, two bodies in Central Lombok, two bodies in East Lombok, and four bodies in the provincial city of Mataram. Two other victims died in Bali.

"Most of the victims died from collapsed buildings," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB)'s data center and public relations said in a press conference on Monday morning.

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