A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Flores island in eastern Indonesia early Saturday around 5 a.m. The quake, one of the strongest the area has experienced in decades, killed at least 53 people and injured 135 others. The disaster triggered widespread destruction across East Nusa Tenggara province, with fatalities reported in Manggarai, East Manggarai, Sikka, Ngada, and Ende regencies.
The earthquake caused significant infrastructure damage, with over 1,300 homes damaged and more than 900 destroyed. Approximately 5,000 people have been displaced and forced into temporary shelters. Landslides blocked roads and disrupted telecommunications and electricity, leaving some remote villages difficult to reach. Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning, urging coastal residents to move to higher ground, but the warning was later lifted when monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes.
Rescue crews, including thousands of deployed military and police officers, are digging through collapsed buildings and landslide debris to find survivors. Efforts have been hampered by power outages and a series of 341 aftershocks, the strongest of which measured 6.1 magnitude. Officials warned that the death toll is likely to rise as teams struggle to reach the region closest to the epicenter.
Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is highly prone to seismic and volcanic activity. This event is the nation's deadliest earthquake since a 2022 quake in West Java. In a separate event on Saturday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck North Sumatra province, though no tsunami threat or immediate damage was reported in that region.