Indonesia earthquakes hit Flores at 4.58 am local time on Saturday, when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 15 km off the north coast of Flores, about 68 km northwest of Ende. Residents in Maumere and Nagekeo moved quickly as the ground shook and a tsunami warning followed.
Rescuers in Maumere found 20 dead, six injured and two trapped under rubble, according to Fathur Rahman. The toll gives the strongest early picture of the quake’s damage, while teams in other parts of Flores were still trying to piece together the scale of the destruction.
Maumere and Nagekeo
In Nagekeo regency, about 2,000 residents evacuated after the quake, with damage reported to houses, warehouses and government facilities. Traffic congestion and power outages affected parts of the regency, and landslides and communication problems kept teams from reaching some areas.
Lukas Lotar, a hospital customer service official in Nagekeo regency, said, “Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” and added, “Patients also fled the hospital, the jolt was big. I saw some walls were cracked.” His account tracks the immediate scramble inside a building as people moved for open ground.
Yohanes Babo in Nagekeo
Yohanes Babo, a resident in Nagekeo, said, “The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house,” before describing the evacuation: “People were panicking, running here and there. We’re evacuating for the time being … and trying to get to the hills.” He later said, “My family is safe. No one was harmed.”
The tsunami warning was later lifted after BMKG said monitoring showed no significant sea level changes, even though waves of less than one metre were recorded in several areas. Dozens of aftershocks followed, including one of 6.1 magnitude, leaving rescuers and residents in Nagekeo still working through blocked roads and weak communications as the casualty count continued to be assessed.
