JAKARTA/KUPANG, Aug. 19 — Rescue operations continue across Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province five days after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Flores region, killing at least 70 people, injuring more than 1,100 others, and displacing tens of thousands of residents.
The earthquake hit at 5:58 a.m. local time (WITA) on Saturday, August 15, with its epicenter in the Flores Sea approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Mbay in Nagekeo regency, at a depth of 15 kilometers. A tsunami warning was immediately issued, forcing coastal residents to higher ground, but was lifted after monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) confirmed on Tuesday that the death toll had climbed to 70, with casualties recorded across seven districts. Manggarai district was the hardest hit with 26 fatalities, followed by East Manggarai with 24 deaths. Nagekeo reported eight deaths, Sikka four, and the districts of Ende, West Manggarai, and Ngada each recorded two.
“There are 1,182 wounded people, while 11,925 structures were damaged due to the earthquake,” said Berton Panjaitan, acting head of the BNPB’s Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre. Of the damaged houses, 5,516 sustained severe damage, 1,916 moderate damage, and 4,493 light damage.
Relentless Aftershocks The seismic activity has shown no sign of subsiding. As of early Wednesday morning, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had recorded 2,768 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 1.1 to 6.2. Among these, 24 aftershocks exceeded magnitude 5, and 81 were strongly felt by residents.
“Earthquake activity remains fluctuating and the decay pattern has yet to be clearly observed,” Panjaitan told reporters. “It is estimated that conditions will begin to stabilise within the next two to three weeks.”
The strongest aftershock, measuring magnitude 6.2, struck just 15 minutes after the main tremor. Two additional 6.2-magnitude aftershocks followed within the first hour, compounding the destruction and terror among residents who had already been shaken from sleep by the initial quake.
Mass Displacement and Infrastructure Damage The continuous aftershocks have driven a mass displacement crisis. More than 40,000 people have been forced from their homes, many spending nights outdoors in fear of further tremors. Some evacuees have been placed in public shelters, while others have sought refuge with relatives.
Beyond residential buildings, the earthquake has devastated critical infrastructure. Joint response teams reported damage to at least 93 educational facilities, 36 health centers, and 38 government offices. More than 100 public facilities in total have been affected, including schools, medical centers, and churches.
Landslides triggered by the quake blocked at least 33 sections of the Trans-Flores Highway, a roughly 435-mile paved mountain road spanning Flores Island from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka. Seven excavators and four loaders have been mobilized to clear debris, with temporary repairs completed at 32 locations, though seven sections remain passable only on a limited, alternating basis.
Power outages initially hampered communication and rescue efforts in the aftermath, but authorities reported that electricity had been restored to 99.9 percent of affected customers and telecommunications networks to 99.7 percent by early Tuesday.
Aerial Rescue Operations Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has deployed helicopters to remote, hard-to-reach areas where road access has been cut off by landslides. The air support is being used to transport medical personnel, evacuate injured residents requiring treatment, and deliver emergency supplies to isolated communities.
With no further reports of missing persons, search and rescue teams have shifted their focus to area sweeping and recovery operations in collaboration with the BNPB.
Several tourist attractions on Flores Island have been temporarily closed for safety inspections, including Rangko Cave in West Manggarai, Wae Rebo Traditional Village in Manggarai, and Kelimutu National Park in Ende. However, authorities confirmed that tourism activities in Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park — located outside the worst-hit zone — are generally operating normally and remain safe for visitors.
Emergency Response and International Concern The provincial government has declared a 14-day state of emergency to coordinate aid with central authorities. Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Pratikno said ministers and government officials have been in the province since the first day of the disaster to assess damage and accelerate recovery efforts.
NGOs on the ground have reported urgent shortages. “The most urgent needs are food and clean drinking water,” said Severinus Budiman Lusty of the NGO Wahana Visi Indonesia, deployed in Ende. “Although there are open kitchens at some posts, more are needed. The water we found is turbid and not safe for consumption.”
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, sits atop the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity caused by the convergence of multiple tectonic plates. The country has a long and tragic history with devastating earthquakes. A powerful quake and tsunami in 1992 killed approximately 2,500 people on Flores Island. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake spawned a tsunami in Central Sulawesi that killed more than 4,400 people. The deadliest disaster in Indonesia’s modern history was the magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in December 2004, which triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people across a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.