Earthquake Aftermath in Indonesia’s Flores Island

In Flores, Indonesia, thousands are still waiting for aid after a powerful earthquake hit the island. The disaster occurred as the nation celebrated its Independence Day, killing at least 68 people and injuring more than 200.

On the island, many residents mourn victims while military teams work to deliver food, clean water, and clothing to isolated communities. The earthquake caused extensive damage, with buildings collapsing on parked cars and homes reduced to rubble.

Rasyid Jafar, a clothing merchant in Reo, expressed urgency, ‘My house is now just rubble. We need food, medicine, and clean water urgently.’

President Prabowo Subianto asked for prayers for those affected during an Independence Day ceremony in Jakarta. The earthquake affected over 4,500 homes and displaced 19,000 people. 213 people were injured, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). Health facilities, schools, and places of worship were among the 458 buildings damaged.

The province’s governor declared a 14-day state of emergency after the earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers early on Saturday. Although tsunami alerts were issued, they were later lifted. Authorities have recorded 1,576 aftershocks, but only 54 were felt by residents.

Many residents are camping outdoors under makeshift tents, fearing more tremors. This disaster evokes memories of a 1992 earthquake and tsunami that killed around 2,500 people in Flores. The government has deployed over 1,800 military and police personnel, aircraft, and vessels to distribute more than 100 metric tons of emergency aid.

Around 5,400 food packages, medicines, clothes, and two tent hospitals have been set up in Ruteng, the hardest-hit area, due to local hospital damage. Crisis management teams are supervising an emergency health operations center. Rescue efforts in the affected zones continue, although no missing persons have been reported.

Aid workers reached Palue Island, near the earthquake’s epicenter, after a challenging journey through landslide-affected terrain. The deputy police chief of Sikka district, Marselus Yugo Amboro, described the journey as ‘almost deadly’ due to steep roads blocked by landslides. Initial assessments found extensive damage, including one death, two serious injuries, and about 150 homes destroyed.

Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire.’ In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Sulawesi triggered a tsunami, killing over 4,400 people. A massive earthquake near Sumatra in 2004 caused a tsunami that took about 230,000 lives in several countries, with nearly 170,000 fatalities in Aceh alone.

Journalists Karmini, Edna Tarigan, Dita Alangkara, and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report from Jakarta.