Around 5,000 people were forced to flee their homes after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores island on Saturday, with more than 300 aftershocks recorded in the following hours, officials said.
BNPB disaster agency spokesman Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan said at least 101 people were injured, while power and telecommunications services were disrupted in several areas. Access to at least one emergency route also remained blocked.
Residents in affected communities said they were urgently in need of food, drinking water, medicines and other essential supplies. Many evacuees continued to shelter on hillsides, fearing further tremors and possible damage to their homes.
“I’m still terrified,” said 55-year-old Nurhidayati, who spent the night on a hill after fleeing her home. She recalled the devastating 1992 earthquake and tsunami on Flores, which killed around 2,500 people.
BNPB chief Suharyanto said five helicopters, several aircraft, a naval vessel and search-and-rescue ships were being deployed to assist the affected communities.
Officials said survivors needed emergency tents, food, medicines, blankets, camp beds, mats, clean water and generators.
The death toll increased to 48 by Sunday morning, while local search and rescue authorities said there were no reports of people remaining trapped or missing.
The shallow quake struck just off Flores’ northern coast. At least 914 houses were severely damaged, while hundreds of others suffered lesser damage. The disaster also affected 93 educational institutions, 36 health facilities and 38 government offices.
The Indonesian government dispatched 50,000 aid packages weighing around 275 tonnes to the affected region, while the European Union offered satellite support through its Copernicus Earth observation programme.
In Ruteng, around 200 kilometres from the worst-hit area, heavy machinery was deployed to clear rubble from roads. A damaged hospital evacuated patients to tents outside the facility, while doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section in a converted storage room.
Authorities warned residents to remain vigilant as aftershocks continued. A tsunami warning issued after the earthquake was later lifted, although waves reaching up to 1.6 metres were reported in some coastal areas.
Indonesia is frequently hit by earthquakes because it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a zone of intense seismic activity.
