Indonesia earthquake death toll rises to 51 as rescuers reach cut-off Flores

Ruteng,UPDATED: Aug 16, 2026 14:56 IST

The death toll from a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in eastern Indonesia rose to 51 on Sunday after rescue teams recovered four more bodies, authorities said. Thousands of people have been displaced, with homes destroyed or damaged across Flores.

The quake struck the Flores region on Saturday morning, triggering landslides, panic among residents and tsunami warnings that were later lifted. Rescue teams are still searching for people feared buried under debris, while damaged roads, power cuts and communication disruptions continue to hamper efforts to reach some of the worst-hit areas.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres at 5:58 am local time. Indonesia's meteorological agency recorded at least 235 aftershocks. Rescuers on Sunday dug through debris across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia, with operations focused on the three regencies that remained inaccessible after the quake: Manggarai, East Manggarai and Nagekeo.

"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, the capital of Sikka regency.

The Search and Rescue Agency said 101 people were injured. More than 900 homes were destroyed and 450 more were damaged, forcing about 5,000 people into temporary shelters. In Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo Park, thousands spent the night outdoors because they feared strong aftershocks.

"The shaking was terrifying, so intense that my house nearly collapsed," said Anastasia Imad, a farmer, speaking from a makeshift green tent beside her damaged home. "We feared the aftershocks would bring it down on us while we slept." Landslides also blocked sections of the roughly 700-kilometre Trans-Flores Highway, which links communities across the mountainous island.

Relief workers distributed rice, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, blankets and medicine, while emergency shelters were set up for displaced residents. Authorities said restoring electricity and communications, and delivering aid to remote villages cut off by landslides, remained among the biggest challenges.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped arc of seismic faults and volcanoes. Flores has seen some of the country's deadliest disasters, including a 1992 earthquake and tsunami that killed about 2,500 people. In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake triggered a tsunami on Sulawesi that killed more than 4,400 people, while a magnitude 9.1 quake off Sumatra in 2004 unleashed a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Rescue and relief operations continued on Sunday as authorities worked to reach cut-off areas, support thousands of displaced residents and restore basic services after the powerful quake on Flores.

With PTI Inputs

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