Quake shakes Bali, tourists run from hotels

Indonesia's resort island of Bali was struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on Thursday, injuring dozens and sending tourists running out of hotels.

The Red Cross said 43 people in the south of the island suffered injuries, including head wounds and broken bones, after some ceilings fell.

Seventeen were taken to hospital in the island's capital Denpasar, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho from the disaster mitigation agency.

The epicenter of the quake was about 100 miles southwest of Denpasar, the U.S. geological survey said.

Caroline Mercier, a 40-year-old tourist in the island's cultural center of Ubud, said she was used to feeling quakes in California, but never like this one.

"It started at my feet and went all though my heart and head -- it made me nauseous. My first reaction was to get out of the house. I was very confused when the roof started shaking," she told Reuters.

Novotel Bali Benoa, one of many resorts in the luxury southern beach area of Nusa Dua, evacuated its guests as the hotel shook for a minute.

"The funny thing is that the foreign guests who were sitting in the lobby did not feel the shaking. They started running when hearing people say 'there's an earthquake' while running down the lobby," hotel worker Ariyanti told Reuters.

Endro Tjahjono, head of information at Bali's meteorology agency, said there was no tsunami potential. Cracks appeared in the walls and glass lobby windows of his office in the southern town of Kuta, and some top floor ceilings fell, he said.