Around 5,000 people have been evacuated after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake smashed an area in eastern Indonesia, killing at least 51, blocking roads and causing landslides, authorities said on Sunday (August 16, 2026).
Thirty-six people were seriously injured in the Saturday morning (August 15, 2026) quake in East Nusa Tenggara province, while 77 had minor injuries, Deputy Health Minister Benjamin Paulus Octavianus told a televised meeting.
The quake, followed by some 341 aftershocks, is the Southeast Asian nation’s deadliest since a 2022 quake killed hundreds in West Java.
More than 3,300 people in the Sikka region self-evacuated or were in a sports arena, said the disaster mitigation agency BNPB.
Some Sikka residents were stranded outside collapsed homes under a makeshift tent made out of tarp, while some people received treatment in a tent outside a hospital in the port town of Maumere.
“I only brought my body,” Abdul Mutas, 63, told Reuters after he and his family slept on a tarp surrounded by trees in the town of Sikka. “The tides were rising, so we ran,” he said, describing their reaction to the quake.
“Almost all of Sikka’s residents didn’t dare stay indoors, so they slept on a porch or a tent outside,” Simon Subandi, deputy regent of Sikka, told news channel KompasTV.
More than 3,500 military and police officers have been deployed to the region, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement.
Rescuers reached parts of Maumere that had been blocked by landslides, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said. There was no immediate count of those missing, but most of them were trapped under rubble, and more than 1,300 homes were damaged, BNPB said.
Twenty petrol stations were not operational due to power outages, said state energy firm Pertamina.
The East Nusa Tenggara government is considering declaring an emergency for the province, BNPB said, which would allow authorities to mobilise resources and funding.
Thousands await aid on Flores island
Thousands of evacuees waited for help on Indonesia’s Flores island after the powerful earthquake damaged hundreds of houses and buildings.
Some 5,000 people fled their homes as the 7.7-magnitude quake hit the island early Saturday, followed by 341 aftershocks in the hours that followed, a spokesman for the BNPB national disaster agency, Berton Suar Pelita Panjaitan, said.
People in some areas were left without electricity and telecommunications and at least one emergency access road remained inaccessible.
“We need food, drink, medicines, and diapers for the children,” Umri, a resident of Nangahale village on the north coast of Flores, told AFP
The 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians uses one name, has been hiding out on a hilltop for 24 hours with others afraid to return home.
Nurhidayati, also 55, spent the night on a mat on the same hill. “I’m still terrified; my heart is pounding hard remembering yesterday’s tremor… We just ran up here yesterday. I’m very scared now, still traumatised by the quake in 1992. I don’t dare to go home,” she said.
“I hope the government will soon distribute logistics to help us,” said Ms. Nurhidayati.
Mr. Berton said at least 101 Flores residents were reported injured.
“In addition to the loss of life, the offshore earthquake caused material losses that have paralysed residents’ daily activities,” he said in a statement on Sunday (August 16, 2026).
Survivors were in urgent need of assistance in the form of emergency tents, food, medicines, blankets, camp beds, mats, clean water and electricity generators, Mr. Berton added. The death toll rose by one from Saturday night to Sunday morning.
With Reuters, AFP inputs
Published – August 16, 2026 10:43 am IST
