Around 5,000 individuals have been relocated following a powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia, resulting in a death toll of at least 53, obstructing transportation routes, and triggering landslides, as per authorities’ reports on Sunday. More than 130 individuals sustained injuries, many of them with fractures.
The earthquake that occurred on Saturday marked the deadliest in the country since a previous quake in 2022 claimed the lives of hundreds in West Java. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that over 3,300 people in the Sikka region either self-evacuated or sought refuge in a sports arena.
In the aftermath, some residents of Sikka found themselves stranded outside collapsed residences, seeking shelter under makeshift tarps. Individuals requiring medical attention were treated in temporary facilities set up outside a hospital in Maumere.
Simon Subandi, the deputy regent of Sikka, revealed that nearly all residents chose to sleep outdoors, either on porches or makeshift shelters. A considerable deployment of over 3,500 military and police personnel has been dispatched to the affected region, as confirmed by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.
Residents expressed fear of aftershocks at the Maumere port, already showing signs of the earthquake’s impact with debris scattered from collapsed structures. The disaster agency reported almost 1,000 aftershocks since the initial quake, prompting hundreds of locals to seek refuge in a designated sports stadium.
Margaretha Movaldes Da Maga Bapa, head of the region’s disaster mitigation agency, emphasized the emotional toll on residents, likening the recent quake to the traumatic event of 1992. Search and rescue efforts continue in the hardest-hit areas, focusing on clearing rubble in Manggarai, East Manggarai, and Nagekeo to locate any potential survivors.
Despite significant progress in restoring power supply, authorities are still working to repair distribution lines. An emergency declaration has been issued for the province by the East Nusa Tenggara government, enabling the mobilization of resources and funding for relief efforts.
Geology expert Dwikorita Karnawati highlighted the seismic vulnerability of the region due to the presence of the “Flores back-arc thrust fault,” a significant system of thrust faults. The affected area previously experienced a devastating magnitude-7.5 earthquake in 1992, according to Indonesia’s geophysics agency.
Indonesia, home to a large population of approximately 290 million people, is situated in the seismically active “Pacific Ring of Fire,” where the convergence of tectonic plates frequently triggers earthquakes and volcanic activity.