Indonesia earthquake fears sharpened on Saturday when the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said a magnitude 7.7 quake struck the Flores region at 5:58 a.m. local time (12:58 a.m. Israel time). A tsunami warning followed after a tsunami evaluation, giving coastal residents a narrower window to judge risk than the shifting numbers initially suggested.
The same center placed the quake at a depth of 35 km. The sequence moved fast: 7.5, then 6.9, then back to 7.5, and finally 7.7. For people in Indonesia, that matters because the first minutes after a large quake often bring the most uncertainty about strength and coastal exposure.
Flores region quake sequence
The changes in reported magnitude are part of the story, not a side note. An early 7.5 estimate would have pointed to a major event; the drop to 6.9 briefly suggested a smaller one; the later return to 7.5 and the final 7.7 reading put the quake back in the highest category in this report.
That evolution came before the tsunami warning was issued, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. For readers on the coast, the practical point was immediate: the evaluation had to run first, and only then did the warning go out.
People in Indonesia and coastal risk
People in Indonesia's Flores region were the group most exposed to the warning. The report does not name individual towns or shelters, so the usable guidance is broad but urgent: residents close to the coast would have had to treat the warning as active once issued and wait for the next official update rather than assume the first magnitude reading held.
Another earthquake was detected in the same region at 6:13 a.m. local time (1:13 a.m. Israel time), and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre classified it at magnitude 6.3. That second quake kept the sequence live rather than settled, which is why the early readings and the warning both matter to anyone nearby trying to judge whether the shaking had finished.
European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre update
The open issue is whether the tsunami warning stayed in force after the evaluation or was lifted later. The report does not carry that answer, so the only firm reference point for readers is the warning itself and the fact that it followed a reworked assessment of the first quake. For people in Indonesia, that means the immediate task was to follow the warning already issued and await the next message tied to the same seismic sequence.
