Magnitude 7.7 Quake in Eastern Indonesia Kills 51, Damages University

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia's Flores island on Saturday has killed at least 51 people, according to authorities. The tremor, which hit at a depth of 10 kilometers, caused significant damage, including to a Catholic university building in the town of Ruteng.

Rescue teams recovered four more bodies on Sunday, raising the death toll from the initial count. The earthquake triggered widespread panic, with residents fleeing their homes as tsunami warnings were issued. The warnings were later lifted. Indonesia's meteorological agency has recorded at least 235 aftershocks following the main quake.

The disaster has left a trail of destruction across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in the largely Muslim nation. Rescuers are focusing their efforts on three regencies that remain inaccessible: Manggarai, East Manggarai, and Nagekeo, where landslides have blocked roads and isolated communities.

The National Search and Rescue Agency reports 101 people were injured. The quake destroyed more than 900 homes and damaged an additional 450, forcing an estimated 5,000 people into temporary shelters. Thousands spent the night outdoors in Labuan Bajo, the gateway to the popular Komodo National Park, fearing further strong tremors.

Landslides have also blocked sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a vital 700-kilometer road that connects communities across the mountainous island. Relief workers are distributing rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets, and medicine, while emergency shelters are being set up for the displaced.

Authorities say restoring electricity and communications, as well as delivering aid to remote villages cut off by landslides, remains a major challenge. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

Flores has a history of deadly disasters. A powerful earthquake and tsunami in 1992 killed about 2,500 people on the island. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami on Sulawesi that killed more than 4,400 people, and in 2004, a magnitude 9.1 quake off Sumatra unleashed a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people across a dozen countries.