At least 47 people died after an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale and dozens of aftershocks hit the East Coast of Indonesia this Saturday (15). The information is from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
Rescue teams have not yet been able to reach Nagekeo, the region closest to the epicenter, after landslides blocked roads and disrupted communications, according to authorities.
"The earthquake was huge, the shaking was very strong," said Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura, a village in East Nusa Tenggara. "There were 13 people inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves."
Tsunami waves of less than 1 meter (3 feet) were recorded in several areas of the Southeast Asian country following the early morning earthquake. Authorities lifted the tsunami warning about three hours later.
Earlier, rescuers in the port city of Maumere found 20 dead, six injured and two people trapped under rubble, said Fathur Rahman, head of the city's rescue agency. Maumere is the main city of Sikka Regency, on the island of Flores, in Eastern Indonesia.
Difficulty of access
BNPB chief Suharyanto said earlier that residents remained trapped in several buildings in the affected area, while there were reports of landslides blocking several roads.
Teams have not yet been able to reach Nagekeo and mobile communications in the region have been affected, Fathur told Reuters earlier. Attempts to reach the area by road were thwarted by landslides, while another team tried to reach there by ferry, he added.
Around 2,000 Nagekeo residents were evacuated and there were reports of damage to homes, warehouses and government buildings, BNPB said. Authorities also reported power outages and traffic congestion in some parts of the region.
East Nusa Tenggara Governor Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena told a news conference that at least five people died when buildings collapsed while they slept.
"Let's not dare go home," he warned.
Damage
Preliminary data from BNPB indicated that 157 houses suffered serious damage, 41 moderate damage and 148 minor damage. Damage was also reported to 87 schools, 18 healthcare facilities, five places of worship and six office buildings, as well as other infrastructure.
Parts of a building collapsed, turning into dust and rubble, as people screamed and ran down the street, according to a Facebook video verified by Reuters as having been filmed at a port in Maumere.
Rescue teams were searching for survivors under a partially collapsed port building.
Siti Sulfia Bira, 37, who lives with her family near Maumere port, said she ran to higher ground when the tremors began.
"At the moment, we don't dare to go home yet, because the situation is not stable, we are still afraid that more tremors could occur," she told Reuters.
The BNPB said strong tremors were felt in East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and parts of South Sulawesi, with residents in several areas reporting tremors that lasted about a minute.
"Most people felt the shock and ran out of their homes," the agency said.
Footage from Kompas TV showed that a hospital in East Nusa Tenggara's Ende district was transferring patients outdoors, while Kompas.com reported at least one landslide.
Indonesian geophysical agency BMKG recorded the first earthquake at 4:58 am (local time) at a depth of 15 km, followed by several aftershocks.
BMKG said the same area was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in 1992, which caused extensive destruction.
Australia's tsunami warning center said the undersea earthquake posed "no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories".
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone where tectonic plates meet, triggering frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, killing more than 4,000 people.
