A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Flores just before 5:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, killing at least 47 people and damaging hundreds of buildings. The quake hit at a depth of 15 kilometers. The National Disaster Management Agency, known as BNPB, confirmed the death toll as search and rescue operations got underway. The shallow depth of the quake made its surface effects more destructive.
According to BBC News, strong aftershocks followed the initial jolt, including one measuring magnitude 6.1. Later on Saturday, a separate magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck North Sumatra at a depth of 163 kilometers. BNPB said 24 fatalities were recorded in Manggarai province, 17 in East Manggarai province, three in Sikka province, and at least one each in the Ngada, Ende and West Manggarai provinces.
Video from the port in Maumere showed large chunks of concrete breaking off a terminal building onto passengers waiting to board an inter-island ferry. Some were thrown into the sea when a gangway collapsed. Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, governor of East Nusa Tenggara province, said at a news conference that people were killed in their sleep by collapsing rubble.
A tsunami warning was issued after the quake but lifted about three hours later when no significant sea level rise was detected. Still, BNPB said 2,000 people had evacuated or relocated on their own. A stream of residents was seen moving inland on motorbikes after the warning went out.
Arnold Welianto, who lives in Talibura, a village near the coastline in Sikka, said he was woken by the shaking. "I was startled awake and immediately went to my child's room," he said. He described the sea receding after the quake. "Some other residents were standing along the roadside because the sea had also receded," he said. "The water remained low for quite some time, so everyone panicked and ran - I went around to the community health centre, and the people there had already been evacuated."
Welianto said many residents were choosing to stay outdoors because they feared returning home amid continued aftershocks. Yulian Juita Ekalia, a university lecturer from Ruteng, a city west of the epicenter, said she dragged her stove outside and was cooking there for fear of further tremors. "I have never felt an earthquake this big," she told AFP. "It felt like we were on a trampoline."
Search and rescue operations were continuing Saturday as the official death toll continued to rise.
