Magnitude 7.7 quake off Indonesia kills 30, topples buildings

At least 38 people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Flores island early on Saturday, bringing down buildings, triggering landslides and disrupting power and communications.

The earthquake prompted authorities to issue a tsunami warning and advise residents in several coastal areas to seek higher ground. The alert was subsequently withdrawn after Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency detected no significant changes in sea levels.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at 5.58 am local time at a depth of 10 kilometres. Its epicentre was located around 68 kilometres north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. Several aftershocks followed.

National Disaster Management Agency chief Suharyanto said most of the fatalities were recorded in the severely affected regencies of Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai. Sixteen bodies were recovered from a landslide in Reok village in Manggarai.

At least 13 injured residents were admitted to nearby hospitals, with two reported to be in serious condition.

Three helicopters and a rescue vessel were deployed to transport supplies and support emergency operations, including possible evacuations. Rescue efforts faced logistical difficulties because East Nusa Tenggara comprises several islands with limited transport links.

Around 2,000 residents of Nagekeo regency left their homes and moved to temporary shelters following the earthquake.

East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said several buildings had collapsed or sustained extensive damage. Power cuts and communication failures across towns and villages were delaying the collection of information and complicating search and rescue work.

Authorities were continuing to verify reports of casualties and destruction amid the communication disruptions, he said.

Earthquake-induced landslides in Ende regency also blocked sections of the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 700-kilometre mountain road linking Labuan Bajo and Larantuka.

Local television footage showed patients being evacuated from hospitals as a precaution. Medical personnel shifted beds, intravenous stands, oxygen cylinders and other equipment outdoors while temporary treatment areas were established.

The tremors were felt across much of Flores, sending residents rushing from buildings and towards elevated areas. Initial assessments indicated substantial damage in several locations.

Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka regency, said the strong shaking had damaged numerous structures and caused panic. She said the waiting area at the Maumere port terminal had collapsed.

At St Peter Major Seminary in Sikka, students and nuns attending morning Mass fled after the roof of an assembly hall gave way. The seminary’s rector, the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, said a priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building.

Panic was also reported in Labuan Bajo, the main gateway to Komodo National Park. Damage was recorded in Bima in neighbouring West Nusa Tenggara province and in parts of southern Sulawesi.

The initial tsunami warning covered areas of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. Residents were advised to remain clear of beaches and riverbanks until the alert was cancelled.

Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a belt of active fault lines and volcanoes.

Flores was struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 1992 that killed approximately 2,500 people. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami devastated Palu, killing more than 4,400 people.

A tsunami in the Mentawai Islands in 2010 killed more than 400 people, while the magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in December 2004 generated a tsunami that claimed about 230,000 lives across several countries.

With AP/PTI inputs