Indonesia earthquake death toll rises to 53 as rescuers search landslides

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - RUTENG, Indonesia — Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia recovered six more bodies Sunday following a powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake, raising the death toll to 53 as thousands of displaced residents remained in temporary shelters.

The earthquake struck the Flores region in East Nusa Tenggara province at 5:58 a.m. Saturday at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The powerful shaking sent residents fleeing in panic and prompted tsunami warnings that were later lifted.

Authorities have recorded 995 aftershocks since the earthquake, although only 46 were felt by residents, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency’s chief for disaster prevention. At least 135 people were injured.

Rescue teams continued digging through debris Sunday for people feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the earthquake across six regencies on Flores.

Search operations focused on three regencies that remained difficult to access — Manggarai, East Manggarai and Nagekeo.

“We have cleared most landslides and reopened roads to previously isolated villages, although communication disruptions and power outages continue to hamper search efforts,” said Fathur Rahman, head of the Search and Rescue Office in Maumere.

More than 900 homes were destroyed and another 450 damaged across East Nusa Tenggara province, forcing around 5,000 people into temporary shelters, according to disaster authorities. At least 241 homes were damaged in the Flores region alone.

Many residents in Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park and one of Indonesia’s best-known tourist destinations, spent the night outdoors because of fears that strong aftershocks could bring down already damaged buildings.

“The shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed,” farmer Anastasia Imad said from a makeshift tent beside her damaged home. “We feared the aftershocks would bring it down on us while we slept.”

Landslides also blocked sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a roughly 700-kilometer road connecting communities across the mountainous island.

Relief workers distributed rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets and medicine, while emergency shelters were established for displaced residents.

Authorities said restoring electricity and communications and delivering aid to remote villages cut off by landslides remained among the biggest challenges.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is highly vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Flores has experienced several deadly disasters. An earthquake and tsunami in 1992 killed about 2,500 people on the island.

In 2018, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi killed more than 4,400 people. A magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in 2004 triggered a devastating tsunami that killed about 230,000 people across a dozen countries.