Earthquake in eastern Indonesia leaves 68 dead and residents await help

Residents of villages in eastern Indonesia, hit by an earthquake that killed at least 68 people, awaited help on Monday (17), as rescue teams searched collapsed buildings in search of people trapped under the rubble.

The death toll rose from 54 to 68, said Berton SP Panjaitan, an official at the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency, adding that more than 200 people were injured.

Thousands of people were evacuated following the country's deadliest disaster since a 2022 earthquake killed hundreds in West Java. Many of them are sheltering in outdoor tents and afraid to return to their homes due to aftershocks.

The quake left Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations somber, and residents of East Nusa Tenggara were shaken by nearly 1,600 aftershocks across the province as of Monday, Panjaitan said. The country's geophysics agency recorded a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in the region this morning.

The earthquake also caused landslides and blocked roads across Indonesia's southernmost province, including the regions of Sikka and Manggarai.

In the parking lot of a damaged health center filled with tents and hospital beds in a village near the earthquake-affected Ende region, Firmus Woge, a 64-year-old farmer, was receiving treatment for asthma, which had been worsened by panic caused by the earthquake.

He said he had trouble breathing during the night, “and it’s getting worse again after this morning’s earthquake.”

Fathur Rahman, head of the Rescue Office in Maumere, the capital of Sikka, told Reuters that the search would focus on aerial monitoring of possible missing people, using a helicopter and rescue equipment.

Authorities prepared aircraft to deliver aid such as food and tents, Panjaitan said. The earthquake damaged about 500 homes, the agency said.