A significant earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, struck off Indonesia’s coast early Saturday. The powerful tremor resulted in at least 20 casualties, with structures collapsing and communities experiencing panic in a region often affected by deadly quakes.
Authorities reported six injuries and two people missing following a landslide triggered by the quake. A tsunami warning was initially issued, urging coastal residents to move to higher ground, though it was later canceled when Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency recorded no significant sea-level changes posing threats to coastal areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey tracked the quake’s epicenter 68 kilometers (42 miles) north-northwest of Ende city in East Nusa Tenggara province. It occurred at 5:58 a.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.22 miles), with several aftershocks recorded afterward.
Fathur Rahman, head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency, confirmed the recovery of 20 bodies in the heavily affected regencies of Sikka, West Manggarai, and East Manggarai. This included eight bodies extracted from a landslide site in Reok village, Manggarai. Six individuals with severe injuries were taken to nearby hospitals.
Rescue teams continued to search for two villagers believed buried under mud caused by a landslide surrounding their area.
Rudi Darmoko, the police chief of East Nusa Tenggara, reported substantial property damage and building collapses. Power cuts in cities and villages further complicated search and rescue operations, affecting communication and the flow of information.
According to Darmoko, landslides from the quake also blocked the Trans-Flores Highway, a paved mountain road stretching approximately 700 kilometers (435 miles) across Flores from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka.
Local television aired footage of hospital evacuations, with medical staff moving equipment like beds, IV stands, and oxygen tanks outside to establish temporary treatment zones.
The National Disaster Management Agency deployed a helicopter to assist with logistics, supporting emergency response operations and potential evacuations in the geographically challenging East Nusa Tenggara, which consists of many islands.
About 2,000 villagers in Nagekeo regency sought temporary shelter. The quake was felt across Flores Island and other regions, causing significant damage. In Sikka regency, resident Yohanna Embu recounted buildings damaged by the tremors, with panicked individuals fleeing to higher ground. She noted the collapse of the waiting room at Pelni terminal in Maumere.
Father Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of Saint Peter’s Major Seminary in Sikka, shared that students and nuns began morning mass, but panic set in when the roof of an assembly hall collapsed. He reported that a priest suffered a leg fracture after jumping from the second floor during the tremors.
The earthquake also caused panic in Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park, and inflicted damage in Bima city, West Nusa Tenggara province, and southern parts of Sulawesi island.
At first, Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning for parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi, advising residents to avoid beaches and riverbanks. Indonesia, a large archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, frequently experiences quakes and volcanic activity due to its location along the Pacific’s Ring of Fire, known for its volcanic arcs and tectonic faults.
In 1992, a powerful quake and resulting tsunami killed around 2,500 people in Flores. Similarly, in 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake created a localized tsunami that devastated coastal areas. Ground liquefaction turned city neighborhoods in eastern Indonesia’s Palu into mud rivers, leading to over 4,400 deaths. A 2010 quake and tsunami impacted the Mentawai Islands, killing more than 400 people and destroying numerous homes. In December 2004, a massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami, resulting in 230,000 deaths across various countries.