A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s coast early Saturday, destroying homes and buildings, killing at least five people and triggering panic across an area frequently affected by deadly earthquakes.
Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning and advised people living along the coast to move to higher ground. The warning was later withdrawn after Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency reported that monitoring showed no significant changes in sea levels that could threaten coastal communities.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck the Flores region at a depth of about 10 kilometers at 5:58 a.m. local time. The epicenter was located approximately 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. Several aftershocks followed the main quake.
East Nusa Tenggara police chief Rudi Darmoko said preliminary information indicated that two people had died in Sikka Regency and three others in Manggarai Regency. He said the earthquake caused widespread damage and building collapses, while power outages disrupted communications and made rescue operations more difficult.
“We are continuing to collect reports of damages and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,” Darmoko said.
Television footage showed patients being moved out of several hospitals as a precaution. Medical workers carried beds, IV stands, oxygen cylinders and other equipment outside and established temporary treatment areas to cope with the emergency.
Strong tremors felt across Flores
The earthquake was felt across much of Flores island, with early reports indicating extensive damage.
Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka Regency, said several buildings were damaged by the violent shaking and frightened residents rushed toward higher ground.
“Many buildings here were damaged ... I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.
At St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka, students attending morning Mass fled after the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, the seminary's rector. The institution, locally known as Ritapiret Seminary, is located on predominantly Catholic Flores island.
“Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof,” Tanga said. He added that at least one priest broke a leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the earthquake.
The earthquake also caused panic in Bima, a city in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara province. Damage was also reported in parts of southern Sulawesi.
Indonesia initially issued tsunami warnings for parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. Residents were told to stay away from beaches and riverbanks as authorities monitored the situation.
The earthquake was identified as a shallow undersea quake near Flores island.
Indonesia highly vulnerable to earthquakes
Indonesia is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The archipelago, which consists of more than 17,000 islands, lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a zone marked by active faults and volcanoes.
Flores has suffered devastating earthquakes and tsunamis before. In 1992, a powerful earthquake generated a tsunami that killed about 2,500 people on the island.
In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck eastern Indonesia, generating a destructive local tsunami that devastated coastal communities. Severe liquefaction also transformed neighborhoods in Palu into mudflows. More than 4,400 people died in the disaster.
In 2010, a tsunami about 3 meters high struck the Mentawai Islands off western Sumatra just minutes after a powerful offshore earthquake. More than 400 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
Indonesia experienced its deadliest modern tsunami disaster in December 2004, when a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a massive tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries.