A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 51 people, injuring more than 100, and prompting the evacuation of around 5,000 residents in East Nusa Tenggara province, authorities said on Sunday.
Magnitude-7.7 earthquake kills at least 51 in eastern Indonesia, prompts evacuation of 5,000
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 51 people, injuring more than 100, and prompting the evacuation of around 5,000 residents in East Nusa Tenggara province, authorities said on Sunday.
Deputy Health Minister Benjamin Paulus Octavianus told a televised meeting that 36 people were seriously injured and 77 sustained minor injuries in the quake.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency BNPB said more than 3,300 people in the Sikka region either self-evacuated or were stranded in a sports arena. Some residents sheltered under makeshift tarpaulin tents outside collapsed homes, and patients received treatment in a tent outside a hospital in the port town of Maumere.
Rescuers from Indonesia's search and rescue agency were able to reach parts of Maumere that had been blocked by landslides. Most of those reported missing were trapped under rubble, and more than 1,300 homes were damaged, BNPB said. Twenty petrol stations were out of service due to power outages, state energy firm Pertamina said.
More than 3,500 military and police officers were deployed to the region, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement. The East Nusa Tenggara government is considering declaring a provincial emergency, which would allow authorities to mobilize resources and funding, according to BNPB.
The same area was struck in 1992 by a magnitude-7.5 earthquake that caused extensive destruction, Indonesia's geophysics agency said. Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone where tectonic plates meet and trigger frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Hundreds of people died after a 2022 earthquake in West Java.
- The source does not state the precise depth or epicenter location of the magnitude-7.7 earthquake.
- The source does not state the current status of the possible provincial emergency declaration.
- The source does not state the total number of people confirmed missing or still unaccounted for.
- The source does not state what percentage of the 5,000 evacuees were officially evacuated by authorities versus those who self-evacuated.
- The source does not state the current capacity or condition of medical facilities in the affected area.
- The source does not state the agency or body that determined this quake to be Indonesia's worst in years, nor the metric used for that comparison.
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