At least 47 dead after 7.7-magnitude tremor hits eastern Indonesia, triggers landslides and small tsunamis.
Residents on Flores Island woke to a violent jolt just before dawn on Saturday. Buildings cracked. Roofs fell. People ran into the streets as the ground heaved beneath them.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province around 5:58 a.m. local time. The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter about 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende at a shallow depth of roughly 10 kilometers. Indonesia’s meteorological agency recorded a similar depth of 15 kilometers.
Rising Toll and Damaged Communities
National Disaster Management Agency head Suharyanto said rescuers recovered at least 47 bodies, mostly in Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai regencies. About 50 people were taken to hospitals. Roughly 2,000 residents fled to temporary shelters.
The quake flattened at least 157 houses and damaged nearly 200 more. It also wrecked more than 100 public buildings, including schools, health centers and churches. Landslides blocked the Trans-Flores highway and cut off remote villages. Power outages and disrupted communications slowed rescue work. Officials warned the death toll would likely climb.
Gerak Cepat Pemerintah Pusat Membantu Penanganan Darurat Pascagempa M7.7 NTT
— BNPB Indonesia (@BNPB_Indonesia) August 15, 2026
Pemerintah pusat melakukan rapat koordinasi untuk memastikan penanganan darurat gempa bumi M7.7 berjalan optimal. Sejumlah kementerian dan lembaga juga secara pararel telah bergerak menuju lokasi… pic.twitter.com/pr2Iem4986
Kaji cepat dampak gempa M7,7 di wilayah Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) masih terus dilakukan petugas gabungan. Lebih dari 40 warga meninggal dunia dan ratusan rumah mengalami kerusakan.
— BNPB Indonesia (@BNPB_Indonesia) August 15, 2026
Berdasarkan data sementara pada Sabtu (15/8), pukul 18.48 WIB, Badan Nasional… pic.twitter.com/C9LFOLOV6a
Heart-stopping CCTV footage capturing the terrifying split seconds as a home nearly collapses during the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia. The sheer force of these tremors across the Flores region is devastating. Keeping all those impacted in our thoughts.…
— Cricket Desi Wala (@shahamalig) August 15, 2026
New footage reveals the unfolding aftermath across Flores Island, Indonesia, following the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake. Visuals show significant structural damages, including collapsed port terminals in Maumere, cracked walls, and debris-littered streets as emergency…
— Cricket Desi Wala (@shahamalig) August 15, 2026
Tsunami Alert and Aftershocks
Authorities issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas in East and West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. They later lifted it after monitoring showed no major threat. Small waves still reached shore, measuring up to about 0.94 meters in places and higher in isolated spots such as Riung. Fishing boats washed inland and mud covered some villages.
More than 235 aftershocks followed, the strongest around magnitude 6.2. A separate deeper quake hit North Sumatra later in the day but caused no reported casualties.
A Familiar Danger
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates grind against each other. Flores itself suffered a deadly magnitude 7.5 quake and tsunami in 1992 that killed about 2,500 people. Officials noted this latest event ranked among the strongest in the area in more than three decades.
Residents described the shaking as unlike anything recent. One woman in Sikka said people fled in panic toward higher ground as buildings around them cracked. Seminary students in the same regency ran from collapsing roofs during morning Mass.
Helicopters and a rescue vessel have been deployed. Teams continue searching cut-off areas as supplies move in from other parts of the country. The full scale of the damage remains unclear while roads stay blocked and aftershocks continue.
Halo #SahabatTangguh
— BNPB Indonesia (@BNPB_Indonesia) August 15, 2026
Pemerintah bergerak cepat merespons gempa M7,7 di Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). Sebanyak 50.000 paket sembako dengan total 275 ton bantuan dikirim dalam dua tahap untuk masyarakat terdampak.
Tahap pertama, 4.925 paket seberat 27,08 ton diberangkatkan… pic.twitter.com/bUXSLLyakT
AI Disclosure: This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools and was reviewed and edited by the Glowls News editorial team before publication.