Indonesia earthquake death toll reaches 53, thousands evacuated

Thousands of evacuees are waiting for help on Indonesia’s Flores island after Saturday’s powerful earthquake killed at least 53 people, injured dozens and damaged hundreds of houses and buildings.

Authorities have since recorded 995 aftershocks, but only 46 were felt by residents, said National Disaster Management Agency’s chief for disaster prevention Abdul Muhari, adding that 135 people were injured.

About 5,000 people fled their homes as the magnitude-7.7 quake hit the island, a spokesman for the agency, Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, said.

At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the agency said in a statement. 

The quake destroyed more than 900 homes and damaged nearly 450 more and at least 167 public facilities, including schools, health centres and churches, were also damaged, the agency said.

The epicentre of the shallow quake was located just off the north coast of the island, geological authorities said.

The quake also struck Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park, one of Indonesia’s best-known tourist destinations.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended his “deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives”.

Mr Albanese said on Sunday there were no indications at this stage that Australians had been affected but authorities continued to make inquiries.

Australians in impacted areas should follow the advice of Indonesian authorities, he said.

‘We need food’

Authorities said restoring electricity and communications as well as delivering aid to remote villages isolated by landslides remained among the biggest challenges following the quake.

“We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children,” Umri, a resident of Nangahale village on the north coast of Flores, told AFP on Sunday morning.

The 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians uses one name, has been hiding out on a hilltop for 24 hours with others afraid to return home.

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Nurhidayati, also 55, spent the night on a mat on the same hill.

“I’m still terrified. My heart is pounding hard remembering yesterday’s tremor,” she said.

“We just ran up here yesterday. I’m very scared now, still traumatised by the quake in 1992. I don’t dare to go home.”

Flores was struck by a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in 1992 that triggered a tsunami and killed about 2,500 people.

“I hope the government will soon distribute logistics to help us,” Nurhidayati said.

“In addition to the loss of life, the offshore earthquake caused material losses that have paralysed residents’ daily activities,” Mr Berton said.

Mr Berton said survivors were in urgent need of assistance in the form of emergency tents, food, medicines, blankets, camp beds, mats, clean water and electricity generators.

Search continues

Rescuers on Sunday dug through debris looking for people feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake, but there were no reports of people buried or missing.

“We have cleared most landslides and reopened roads to previously isolated villages, although communication disruptions and power outages continue to hamper search efforts,” said Fathur Rahman, head of the Search and Rescue Office in Maumere, the capital of Sikka regency.

Relief workers have begun distributing rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets and medicine, while emergency shelters were being set up for displaced residents. 

The East Nusa Tenggara provincial government that includes Flores “is processing a decree to establish an emergency response status for the next 14 days,” Mr Berton said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday that preparations were under way to bring aid to thousands in temporary shelters.

The government sent 50,000 aid packages weighing a total of 275 tonnes to the area and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen offered help from the bloc’s Copernicus Earth observation satellites.

“Europe stands ready to deploy Copernicus, our eyes in the sky, to support search and rescue efforts. Indonesia, we stand with you,” she wrote on X.

Tsunami warning lifted

After Saturday’s quake, Flores residents ran for the hills as the sea retreated, a possible sign of an approaching tsunami.

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A tsunami warning was later lifted, but authorities urged people not to return to damaged buildings for fear that aftershocks may bring them down.

Waves of up to 1.6 metres were reported in some coastal regions, according to Indonesia’s BMKG geological agency.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location in the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A devastating magnitude-9.1 tremor in 2004 struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, about 170,000 of them in Indonesia.

It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

ABC/wires