Indonesian authorities raised the death toll to 38 after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the coast of the Indonesian island of Flores, east of the archipelago, this Saturday, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
The head of the BNPB, Suharyanto, detailed in a press conference that “38 deaths were recorded, two seriously injured, 11 slightly injured and 2,000 evacuated.”
Specifically, in Manggarai six people have died, while in Eastern Manggarai five deaths have been recorded and in Sikka three fatalities. Likewise, numerous families have been affected by the earthquake and nearly 2,000 residents have had to be evacuated, while damage has been reported to fifty homes.
The earthquake occurred at 4:58 a.m. (local time) with its epicenter located off the northern coast of the island and at a depth of only 15 kilometers, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Indonesia.
Hours later, the death of the first two people was confirmed. “We evacuated a person who died after being hit by debris from a building,” the head of the local Search and Rescue delegation said of one of the victims, speaking to the Indonesian news agency ANTARA.
The victims, he stated, have not yet been identified and have been found in the waiting room of the port of Lorens Say, in the district of Sikka, in the east of the island, which has been damaged by the earthquake. Likewise, the other two injured have been transferred to a nearby hospital to receive intensive treatment.
Tsunami early warning
After the earthquake, the authorities issued a preventive tsunami warning for the surrounding coastal areas, which was withdrawn shortly after after evaluating the evolution of the mass of water.
“The tsunami early warning caused by the earthquake has been declared over,” the Indonesian meteorological agency previously confirmed through an official statement. Likewise, after the earthquake, aftershocks of between 5.6 and 6.1 magnitude were recorded in the same region.
Rescue teams continue to assess damage and casualties in affected areas of Flores Island, and more details are expected as emergency operations continue.
Indonesia has a long history of devastating earthquakes as it is located in the middle of the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the regions with the greatest seismic and volcanic activity on the planet. This belt of great tectonic instability extends from Japan and Indonesia to California and South America.
