Indonesia’s Flores quake kills 38 as rescuers battle outages

A shallow shock before sunrise

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck offshore from Flores in eastern Indonesia at 5:58 a.m. local time on Saturday, killing at least 38 people and injuring more than a dozen.npr +1 The epicentre was about 68 kilometres north-north-west of Ende, and the US Geological Survey measured the depth at 10 kilometres.aljazeera +1 Several strong aftershocks followed, adding to the danger for residents and emergency crews.aljazeera

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning across parts of four provinces and urged people near beaches and riverbanks to reach higher ground. The warning was later lifted after monitoring found no sea-level change that threatened coastal communities, although small waves were recorded in several places.theguardian +1

Landslides and outages slow the search

The worst confirmed losses were spread across several regencies. Sixteen bodies were recovered from a landslide in Reok village, while rescuers continued checking collapsed homes and buildings.npr Power failures and disrupted communications were making it harder to establish the full toll, and landslides severed the Trans-Flores highway in Ende regency.theguardian +1

About 2,000 people in Nagekeo fled to temporary shelters. Hospitals moved patients, beds, oxygen cylinders and intravenous equipment outdoors as staff set up temporary treatment areas away from damaged structures.npr +1 In Maumere, residents reported a collapsed port-terminal waiting room; damage was also reported at homes, government facilities and religious buildings.npr +1

Indonesia’s disaster agency deployed helicopters and a rescue vessel to move supplies and support possible evacuations across East Nusa Tenggara, where island geography and blocked roads complicate access.npr Emergency teams had not yet reached every community closest to the epicentre, leaving officials warning that casualty and damage figures could change.aljazeera +1

A familiar fault line sharpens the risk

Flores sits within Indonesia’s highly active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic boundaries generate frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.aljazeera +1 The island carries a particularly painful precedent: an earthquake and tsunami in December 1992 killed about 2,500 people.aljazeera

Authorities continued to warn residents away from cracked buildings and unstable slopes as aftershocks persisted. With communications patchy and access routes damaged, the immediate priority remained reaching isolated settlements, treating survivors and determining whether people were still trapped beneath debris.npr +1