7.7 Earthquake Hits Flores, Maumere Reports 20 Dead

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the sea north of Flores island in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province early Saturday, and the death toll varies wildly depending on the source. Rescue teams in the port city of Maumere report twenty dead, the provincial governor puts the figure at five, and the national disaster management agency’s official count stands at one dead and four injured.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed the epicenter about 68 kilometers north-northwest of the town of Ende, at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers, and timed the quake at 5:58 a.m. local time, or 21:58 GMT Friday. Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) recorded the first tremor at 4:58 a.m. western Indonesia time, the same moment, and put the depth at 15 kilometers.

Three aftershocks in half an hour

Three aftershocks followed the main quake within thirty minutes, measuring 5.9, 5.6 and 6.1, with epicenters also north of Ende. The string of strong aftershocks in such a short span slowed the first damage assessment, since teams heading into the field kept having to pull back out of damaged buildings.

USGS estimates put more than half a million people on Flores in the zone of very strong shaking, with moderate to strong shaking felt by several million more across the wider region. The quake was felt in East and West Nusa Tenggara and parts of South Sulawesi, and residents in some towns said the shaking lasted about a minute.

Why do the death tolls differ?

Because three separate bodies are reporting them, each with a different view of the ground. Fathur Rahman, head of the city rescue service in Maumere, the capital of Sikka regency, said his teams found “20 dead, six injured and two people trapped under rubble” in that area. That is one city’s field count, not a national figure.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena told a news conference that five people had died, all killed by collapsing buildings while they slept. The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) puts its own tally at one dead and four injured, without that added detail, since its official count includes only confirmed cases. Officials expect the death toll to rise as teams reach more remote locations.

Rescuers had not yet reached Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicenter, in the first hours after the quake, because communication lines there were down. East Nusa Tenggara police chief Rudi Darmoko described severe damage and collapsed buildings and said the communication blackout in towns and villages was slowing the flow of information and complicating the search.

Tsunami warning lifted after three hours

BMKG issued a tsunami warning for the affected coastline immediately after the quake and urged residents to move away from beaches and riverbanks, warning: “Move to higher ground.” Waves under one meter were recorded at several locations, and the warning was lifted about three hours after the main shock. The Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said the undersea earthquake posed no threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.

About 2,000 residents of Nagekeo regency evacuated on their own after the quake and the warning. Houses, warehouses and government buildings were damaged, traffic disruptions and power outages were reported, a hospital in Ende regency moved patients outside, and local media reported at least one landslide.

Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura village in East Nusa Tenggara, described the moment of impact to the Jakarta Post.

There were thirteen of us in the house and we all ran out to save ourselves.

The same stretch of sea killed more than 2,500 people in 1992

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the belt where tectonic plates collide, and ranks among the most seismically active countries in the world. The same stretch of coast was hit by a quake of similar magnitude in December 1992, and the earthquake and the tsunami that followed it killed more than 2,500 people on Flores.

Local authorities said they are continuing to monitor the situation and assess the risk of further aftershocks, which meteorological officials say could continue for several more days. Residents in the island’s northern areas have been ordered to leave their homes, and some of the hardest hit locations remain out of reach for the first response teams.