At least 51 dead, thousands displaced after 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia

MAUMERE: A powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 51 people, injuring dozens more and forcing about 5,000 residents to flee their homes, authorities said Sunday.

The quake hit East Nusa Tenggara province Saturday morning, triggering landslides and blocking roads that hampered rescue efforts. At least 36 people were seriously injured and 77 sustained minor injuries, Deputy Health Minister Benjamin Paulus Octavianus said during a televised briefing.

The temblor, followed by more than 340 aftershocks, marked Indonesia’s deadliest earthquake since a 2022 disaster that killed hundreds on the island of Java.

In the Sikka region, more than 3,300 people self-evacuated or took shelter in a sports arena, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, known as BNPB. Many residents remained outdoors, sleeping under makeshift tarps or on porches, too frightened to return to damaged homes.

“Almost all of Sikka’s residents didn’t dare stay indoors, so they slept on a porch or a tent outside,” Simon Subandi, Sikka’s deputy regent, told news channel KompasTV.

Abdul Mutas, 63, described fleeing with his family as the ground shook and sea waters rose. “I only brought my body,” he told Reuters, after spending the night on a tarp surrounded by trees. “The tides were rising, so we ran.”

Rescuers have reached parts of the port town of Maumere that were previously cut off by landslides, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said. There was no immediate official count of the missing, but BNPB said most were believed trapped under rubble. More than 1,300 homes were damaged.

More than 3,500 military and police officers have been deployed to assist in search and relief operations, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement.

Power outages knocked out at least 20 petrol stations, state energy firm Pertamina reported. Authorities said the provincial government is considering declaring a state of emergency, which would allow for faster mobilization of resources and funding.

The region was struck by a magnitude-7.5 earthquake in 1992 that caused widespread destruction, according to Indonesia’s geophysics agency.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 290 million people, sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a highly seismic zone where tectonic plates collide, making the nation prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.