Magnitude 7.7 earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia, killing at least 38

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook eastern Indonesia, killing at least 38 people on Saturday morning. The earthquake occurred at 5:58 a.m. local time, or 11:58 p.m. French time, north of the island of Flores, in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter was 68 kilometers from the town of Ende and at shallow depth.

Several aftershocks followed, including one of magnitude 6.1. In a hospital, the violence of the shock caused panic. “Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked,” said Lukas Lotar, head of a patient management department. “Patients also fled the hospital, the earthquake was strong. I saw that the walls had cracked,” he added. On some homes, entire sections of facades had collapsed.

After warning of a risk of a tsunami with waves of half a meter to three meters in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi, the authorities lifted the alert. “But we will continue to monitor the sea level,” assured Wijayanto, an official of the national geophysics agency, at a press conference. The inhabitants of the area had previously been called to move away from the coast or to reach higher ground.

“We urge people along the northern coast of Flores and southern areas, southern islands and southern region, to self-evacuate immediately,” said Abdul Muhari, an official with the national disaster management agency.