Rescue teams are searching through rubble for survivors while landslides have blocked several roads, making the operation more difficult. Official Fathur Rahman confirmed 20 deaths across four towns, with six injured and two people still buried under debris. The hardest-hit area is Nagekeo regency, closest to the epicentre. Two people remained trapped alive in neighbouring Manggarai regency.
Residents in Nagekeo ran toward higher ground after the sea pulled back, a possible warning sign of a tsunami. Authorities later cancelled the tsunami alert but urged people not to return to damaged buildings because strong aftershocks continue. Dozens of aftershocks have already hit, the strongest reaching magnitude 6.1.
Yohanes Babo, a 56-year-old local, was at a market when the ground began shaking hard. “The shaking was strong. Thankfully we were already outside,” he said. “People were panicking and running everywhere. We are heading to the hills for now. My family is safe.”
The shallow quake’s epicentre lay about 68 kilometres northwest of the coastal town of Ende. In Maumere, rescuers pulled one body from a partly collapsed building at the port and evacuated another person from a heavily damaged structure. Hospital staff in the area reported patients fleeing as walls cracked.
Indonesia’s weather agency initially warned of possible tsunami waves and told people to move inland. Long lines of residents left towns on foot, motorbikes, cars and pickup trucks. Officials say they are still monitoring sea levels closely.
Flores sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region known for frequent strong earthquakes. A similar 7.7-magnitude quake hit the island in 1992 and triggered a tsunami that killed around 2,500 people. Other major Indonesian disasters include the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and deadly quakes in Lombok and Palu in 2018.
Rescue work continues as teams try to reach those still trapped and assess the full damage across the affected towns and villages.
