Flores Earthquake: Rescuers Race Against Time After 47 Killed

Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia are working through collapsed buildings and landslide debris on Sunday, a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 47 people and injured more than 100 others. The National Disaster Management Agency reported 24 deaths in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighboring East Manggarai, with additional casualties in Sikka, Ngada, and Ende regencies.

The United States Geological Survey recorded the magnitude 7.7 quake at a depth of about 10 kilometers, striking 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The tremor rattled much of Flores island, sending residents fleeing in panic, with aftershocks felt in West Nusa Tenggara and parts of southern Sulawesi.

The disaster agency said more than 900 homes were destroyed and nearly 450 damaged, forcing about 5,000 people into temporary shelters. Thousands more spent the night outdoors, wary of strong aftershocks. At least 167 public facilities, including schools, health centers, and churches, were also damaged.

Relief workers have begun distributing rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets, and medicine, while setting up emergency shelters. Restoring electricity and communications, along with delivering aid to remote villages cut off by landslides, remains a major challenge.

The quake also affected Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park, a popular tourist destination. Landslides blocked sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a roughly 700-kilometer road linking communities across the mountainous island.

Many residents continue to sleep outside rather than risk returning to damaged homes. "The shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed," said Anastasia Imad, a farmer in Labuan Bajo, speaking from a makeshift tent beside her damaged home. "We feared the aftershocks would bring it down on us while we slept."

Rescue teams resumed searches Sunday in areas that had remained inaccessible, particularly in Manggarai, East Manggarai, and Nagekeo regencies. "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.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped arc of seismic faults and volcanoes prone to earthquakes and eruptions. Flores has seen some of the country's deadliest disasters, including a 1992 earthquake and tsunami that killed about 2,500 people on the island.