A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores region at 5.58am local time on Saturday, killing two people and damaging buildings and homes, according to authorities and the US Geological Survey.
The tsunami warning issued after the shallow quake has been lifted after monitoring found no significant sea-level changes threatening coastal communities. Authorities are still assessing the full extent of the damage.
Where the earthquake struck
The earthquake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was off the north coast of Flores, about 68km northwest of the coastal town of Ende, according to US and Indonesian authorities. Two aftershocks followed, including one measuring 6.1.
The disaster agency spokesperson Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan said the two reported fatalities were a man and a woman. Initial reports indicated widespread panic and heavy damage across parts of Flores.
Related coverage: Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes off Flores Island.
Residents moved to higher ground
People in Nagekeo regency, the area closest to the epicentre, fled toward higher ground after the shaking. A hospital customer service official, Lukas Lotar, said patients left the hospital and that some walls had cracked.
Residents quoted in the source report described damaged buildings in Sikka regency, including the collapsed waiting room at a port terminal in Maumere. Images showed people evacuating among rubble in nearby Nagekeo.
Tsunami warning is lifted
Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency lifted the tsunami warning after finding no significant sea-level changes, while saying it would continue monitoring the sea. Australia’s tsunami warning centre separately said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.
More context: Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Strikes Kumamoto, Southern Japan, Prompting Tsunami Alert.
Also read: Voices from the quake: stories of survival and loss in southern Japan’s recent earthquake.
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