At least 47 people were killed and dozens injured after a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s eastern coast early Saturday, collapsing buildings, triggering landslides and causing small tsunamis.

Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams struggled to reach remote villages cut off by landslides and damaged infrastructure.

The earthquake struck the Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time at a depth of about 10 kilometres, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its epicentre was located about 68 kilometres north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Indonesia initially issued a tsunami warning for several coastal areas and urged residents to move to higher ground. The warning was later lifted after monitoring stations detected no major sea-level changes threatening coastal communities.

However, several small tsunami waves were recorded.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency said at least 235 aftershocks followed the main quake, with the strongest measuring magnitude 6.2.

The agency reported a tsunami measuring about 1.61 metres in parts of East Manggarai. Video footage showed mud and debris covering a coastal village, with boats stranded on land and homes and infrastructure damaged.

Waves of up to 0.94 metres were also recorded in Maurole in Ende Regency, while waves exceeding 0.5 metres were detected in parts of South Sulawesi and Bima Regency.

The National Disaster Management Agency said the earthquake destroyed at least 157 houses and damaged nearly 200 others, forcing around 2,000 residents to move to temporary shelters.

More than 100 public facilities, including schools, health centres and churches, were also damaged or destroyed.

Rescuers recovered at least 47 bodies, mainly from Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai, while at least 50 injured people were taken to hospitals, agency chief Suharyanto said.

Search and rescue operations were being hampered by landslides that buried or isolated villages across six regencies on Flores Island.

Fathur Rahman, head of the Search and Rescue Office in Maumere, said some remote villages had been completely buried and that damaged roads and a shortage of heavy equipment were slowing rescue efforts.

East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said power outages and communication disruptions were also making it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage.

Landslides blocked sections of the Trans-Flores highway, a major road stretching about 700 kilometres across the island.

Authorities deployed three helicopters and a rescue vessel to assist with emergency supplies, rescue operations and possible evacuations.

Residents across Flores described scenes of panic as buildings shook.

Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, said people rushed towards higher ground after the quake. She said several buildings were damaged, including the waiting area of a port terminal in Maumere.

At St Peter Major Seminary in Sikka, students and nuns fled after the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said seminary rector Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga. He said at least one priest broke his leg after jumping from the second floor during the quake.

The earthquake was also felt in Labuan Bajo, a gateway to Indonesia’s popular Komodo National Park, while damage was reported in Bima and parts of southern Sulawesi.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area marked by active faults and volcanoes.

Flores has experienced devastating earthquakes and tsunamis before. A powerful earthquake and tsunami in 1992 killed about 2,500 people on the island. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a major tsunami that killed more than 4,400 people.

The 2004 magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra generated a massive tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries.