Key Takeaways
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia's Flores island early Saturday and has killed 48 people and injured 101, according to the national disaster agency.
About 5,000 people left their homes and spent Saturday night on hillsides and in open fields, and by Sunday they were still waiting on food, clean water and medicine.
At least 914 houses were severely damaged along with 93 schools, 36 health facilities and 38 government offices, and the province is moving to declare a 14 day emergency.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the north coast of Indonesia's Flores island early Saturday, killed 48 people and pushed about 5,000 more out of their homes. By Sunday morning many of them were still on hillsides waiting for the first trucks to arrive.
The quake hit at 5:58am local time with an epicenter roughly 68 kilometers north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The United States Geological Survey estimated that more than half a million people on Flores felt very strong shaking. There have been 341 aftershocks since.
Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said Sunday that 101 people were injured and at least 914 houses were severely damaged, along with 93 educational facilities, 36 health facilities and 38 government offices. The provincial government is processing a decree to establish emergency response status for the next 14 days.
The government has sent 50,000 aid packages weighing 275 tonnes, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was preparing to reach thousands in temporary shelters. What survivors are asking for is basic. "We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children," Umri, a resident of Nangahale village, told AFP after 24 hours on a hilltop, per The Jakarta Post.
The fear is doing its own damage. "The quake was massive, the shock was so strong," said Nona, a 51 year old resident of Talibura, in an account carried by Al Jazeera. Residents remember 1992, when a quake of the same magnitude and its tsunami killed about 2,500 people along this coastline.
The pattern is hard to ignore. Four days earlier a 7.4 quake hit Colombia's Chocó region, where the World Food Programme readied food and cash assistance. In both places the emergency became a food emergency within a day. That is the fragile edge behind the UN's report that global hunger fell to 645 million people, progress it called easy to lose.
People Also Ask
How strong was the earthquake on Indonesia's Flores island?
It measured magnitude 7.7 at a depth of 10 kilometers, with an epicenter about 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende. It struck at 5:58am local time on Saturday, August 15, 2026, and was followed by 341 aftershocks.
How many people were killed and injured in the Flores earthquake?
Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency reported 48 dead and 101 injured as of Sunday, August 16. The toll rose by one overnight. Local search and rescue officials said there were no reports of people buried or missing.
What do survivors of the Flores earthquake need most?
Emergency tents, food, medicine, blankets, camp beds, mats, clean water and electricity generators. Some areas lost power and telecommunications, and at least one emergency access road remained impassable on Sunday.
Was there a tsunami after the Flores earthquake?
A tsunami warning was issued and later lifted. Waves of up to 1.6 meters were reported in some coastal regions, well short of the 1992 disaster on the same coastline, which killed about 2,500 people.