Deadly 7.7 quake strikes off Indonesia’s Flores Island

A powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Flores Island early Saturday, killing at least two people, damaging buildings and sending coastal residents fleeing inland after authorities issued a tsunami warning.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake hit at 5:58 a.m. local time, or 21:58 GMT Friday, with an epicenter about 68 kilometers, or 42 miles, north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The USGS put the depth at 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles.

Indonesia’s national disaster agency, BNPB, said preliminary reports from the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency showed at least two residents were killed. Al Jazeera reported, citing BNPB, that the victims were a man and a woman who died at Maumere port. Reports on the number of injured differed: NBC News, citing Indonesia’s disaster management agency, reported two people were injured, while Al Jazeera reported one injury.

Local television footage showed patients being evacuated from several hospitals as a precaution after the quake. Hospital workers moved beds, IV stands, oxygen cylinders and other equipment outdoors and set up temporary treatment areas to keep treating patients under emergency conditions.

The quake was felt across much of Flores, and initial reports indicated heavy damage. Footage carried by local media showed extensive damage to buildings, including at Maumere port, where areas around the region appeared to have sustained severe impact.

Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka regency in East Nusa Tenggara, said strong shaking damaged multiple buildings and caused panic as people ran toward higher ground.

“Many buildings here were damaged… I saw that the waiting room at the Pelni port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.

At St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka, students attending morning Mass fled when the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of the seminary, known locally as Ritapiret Seminary on the predominantly Catholic island.

“Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof,” Tanga said. “At least one priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the quake.”

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami warning for affected coastlines. Authorities urged residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks and move to higher ground. NBC News reported that the warning covered parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces.

“We strongly urge our communities along the northern coast of Flores and in the southern parts, on the southern islands and across the southern region, to carry out self-evacuation immediately,” Abdul Muhari, a BNPB official, said.

Speaking to local broadcaster Kompas TV, Muhari told residents to “move away from the shore, either by going more than two kilometres inland or by moving up into hilly areas more than 10 metres [33ft] high.”

Al Jazeera reported that three aftershocks followed within half an hour, with magnitudes of 5.9, 5.6 and 6.1. NBC News reported that the initial quake was followed by two aftershocks. Local authorities said they were monitoring conditions and assessing the risk of further aftershocks.

Australia’s tsunami warning center said the undersea quake posed no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.

USGS estimates cited by Al Jazeera suggested more than half a million people on Flores likely experienced very strong shaking, while several million more across the wider region felt moderate to strong shaking.

Indonesia, an archipelago of roughly 17,000 islands, lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that makes it highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. In December 1992, a magnitude-7 earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 2,500 people on Flores.